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The  Mississippi  and  its  forty, 
four  navigable  tributaries. 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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THE  MISSISSIPPI 


AND   ITS    l''Oi:TY-F()Uii 


NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES 


A  DESCRIPTIVE,  COMMERCIAL,  AND  STATISTICAL  REVIEW, 
ILLUSTRATED  WITH  THREE  DIAGRAMS. 


ALEX.  D,  ANDERSON, 

Author  of  "Mexico  from  the  Material  Stand-point." 


July  2,  1890. — OrdoreU  to  be  printed  hj  the  United  States  .Senate. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
18  9  0. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI 


AND   ITS   FORTY-FOUR 


NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES 


A  DESCRIPTIVE,  COMMERCIAL,  AND  STATISTICAL  REVIEW, 
ILLUSTRATED  WITH  THREE  DIAGRAMS. 


ALEX.  D.  AIs'DERSON, 

Author  of  '^Mexico  from  the  Material  Stand-point." 


July  2,  1890. — Ordered  to  be  printed  by  the  Uuited  States  Senate. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1890. 


CONTENTS 


xMAP  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  AND  TRIBUTARIES. 


I.  Historical  notes. 
II.  Descriptive  notes. 

Extent  as  <a  drainage  system. 
Extent  as  commercial  highways. 
Valley  States  and  Territories. 
Iute^na^  supplements. 
Interocean  supplements. 

III.  Economical  features. 
Correct  location. 
Connection  of  opposite  climates. 
Construction  by  nature. 
Commercial  value. 

Cost  of  repairs. 
Commercial  capacity. 
Cheap  transportation. 

IV.  Products  op  the  States  inter- 

sected. 
Contrast  with  those  of  the  United 
States. 
V.  Internal  commerce  of  the  States 
intersected. 
Estimate  of  its  value. 
How  transported. 

Increasing  demand  for  transportation. 
VI.  Alluvial  lands. 

Area  and  present  condition. 
Present  value. 
Future  value  if  protected. 
Productive  capacity. 


Contrast  with  the  Netherlands. 

The  qne.-tiou  of  protection. 
VII.  Destructive  floods. 

Floods  of  1868  and  1871. 

Flood  of  1874. 

Flood  of  1881. 

Flood  of  1882. 

Flood  of  1883. 
VIII.  National  features. 

National  in  extent. 

National  in  law. 

National  in  benefits. 

National  in  damage. 

National  in  politics. 

Opinions  of  national  statesmen. 
IX.  International  features. 

American  countries  at  the  South — 
diagrams  of  tirst  and  second  cen- 
tury. 

Our  foreign  commerce  of  the  first 
century. 

Our  foreign  commerce  of  the  second 
century. 
Appendix. 

Act  creating  the  Commission. 

River  distances. 

List  of  authorities. 

List  of  popular  publications. 

List  of  official  documents. 


471885 


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7201 face  p.  5 


I.-HISTORICAL  NOTES. 

In  the  early  days  of  European  discoveries  and  rivalries  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  its  comprehensive  river  system  played  a  prominent  part  on 
the  stage  of  public  affairs.  The  discovery  of  the  river,  in  1541,  by  De 
Soto  and  his  Spanish  troops,  was  about  a  century  later  followed  by  ex- 
plorations by  the  French  under  the  lead  of  Marquette,  Joliet,  La  Salle, 
and  others,  who  entered  the  valley  from  the  north.  La  Salle,  during 
the  years  1679-'83,  explored  the  river  throughout  its  whole  length,  took 
possession  of  the  great  valley  in  the  name  of  France,  and  called  it  Louis- 
iana in  honor  of  his  King,  Louis  XIV.  Then  resulted  grand  schemes 
for  developing  the  resources  of  the  valley,  which  a  French  writer  char- 
acterized as  "the  regions  watered  by  the  Mississippi,  immense  unknown 
virgin  solitudes  which  the  imagination  filled  with  riches."  One  Crozat, 
in  1712,  secured  from  the  King  a  charter  giving  him  almost  imperial 
control  of  the  commerce  of  the  whole  Mississippi  Valley.  There  was  at 
that  date  no  European  rival  to  dispute  French  domination,  for  the 
English  of  New  England  and  the  other  Atlantic  colonies  had  not  ex- 
tended their  settlements  westward  across  the  Alleghanies,  and  the 
Spanish  inhabitants  of  New  Spain  or  Mexico  had  not  pushed  their  con- 
quest farther  north  than  New  Mexico.  Crozat's  trading  privileges  cov- 
ered an  area  many  times  as  large  as  all  France,  and  as  fertile  as  any  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  But  he  was  unequal  to  the  opportunity,  and,  fail- 
ing in  his  efforts,  soon  surrendered  the  charter. 

John  Law,  a  Scotchman,  at  first  a  gambler,  and  subsequently  a  bold, 
visionary,  but  brilliant  financier,  succeeded  Crozat  in  the  privileges  of 
this  grand  scheme,  and  secured  from  the  successor  of  Louis  XIV  a  mo- 
nopoly of  the  trade  and  development  of  the  French  possessions  in  the 
valley.  In  order  to  carry  out  his  wild  enterprise  he  organized  a  colos- 
sal stock  company,  called  '-The  Western  Company,"  but  more  gener- 
ally known  in  history  as  "The  Mississippi  Bubble."  According  to  the 
historian  Monette  "  it  was  vested  with  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  en- 
tire commerce  of  Louisiana  and  New  France,  and  with  authority  to 
enforce  its  rights.  It  was  authorized  to  monopolize  the  trade  of  all  the 
colonies  in  the  provinces,  and  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  within  the  limits 
of  that  extensive  region,  even  to  the  remotest  source  of  every  stream 
tributary  in  any  wise  to  the  Mississippi."  So  skillful  and  daring  were 
his  manipulations  that  he  bewitched  the  French  people  with  the  fasci- 
nations of  stock  gambling.  The  excitement  in  Paris  is  thus  described 
by  Thiers : 

It  was  no  longer  the  professional  speculators  and  creditors  of  the  Government  who 
frequented  the  rue  Quincarapois;  all  classes  of  society  mingled  there,  cherishing  the 
same  illusions — noblemen  famous  on  the  field  of  battle,  distinguished  in  the  Govern- 
ment, churchmen,  traders,  quiet  citizens,  servants  whom  their  suddenly  acquired 
fortune  had  filled  with  the  hope  of  rivaling  their  masters.     *     *     » 

The  rue  Quincampoix  was  called  the  Mississippi.     *     *     * 

The  month  of  December  was  the  time  of  the  greatest  infatuation.  Jhe  shares  ended 
by  rising  to  eighteen  and  twenty  thousand  francs — thirty-six  and  forty  times  the  first 
price. 

At  the  price  which  they  bad  attained  the  six  hundred  thousand  shares  represented 
a  capital  of  ten  or  twelve  billions  of  francs. 


6  THE    Mls.sissil'Pl    AISD    lift    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

Bnt  the  bubble  soou  burst  and  its  explosion  upset  the  fiuauces  of  the 
•whole  Kiugdom. 

Some  years  later,  in  1745,  a  French  engineer  named  Deverges  made 
a  report  to  his  Government  in  favor  of  improving  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  stated  that  the  bars  there  existingwere  a  serious  iujury 
to'con)merce. 

i3ut  France  met  with  too  powerful  rivalry  in  the  valley,  and  in  17G2 
and  1703,  after  a  supremacy  of  nearly  a  hundred  years,  was  crowded 
out  by  the  English  Irom  the  Atlantic  colonies  and  the  Spaniards  from 
the  southwest,  the  Mississippi  Eiver  forming  the  dividing  line  between 
the  regions  thus  acquired  by  those  two  nations. 

The  Spanish  officials,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  colonization,  and 
to  aid  in  establishing  trading  postson  the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Arkan- 
sas, Eed,  and  other  rivers  in  the  western  half  of  the  vallej^,  granted  to 
certain  individuals,  pioneers,  and  settlers,  large  tracts  of  land.  The.N 
made  little  progress,  however,  in  peopling  their  new  territory. 

But  whatever  progress  was  made  under  the  successive  supremacies 
of  France  and  Spain,  the  Mississippi  and  its  navigable  tributaries  sup- 
plied the  onl3'  highways  of  communication  and  commerce. 

In  the  jear  1800,  soon  after  Napoleon  I  became  the  civil  ruler  of 
France,  he  sought  to  add  to  the  commercial  glory  of  his  country  by  re- 
acquiring the  territory  resting  upon  the  Mississippi  which  his  prede- 
cessors had  parted  with  in  1 7G3. 

To  quote  the  language  of  a  French  historian : 

The  cession  that  France  made  of  Louisiana  to  Spain  in  1763  had  been  considered  in 
all  our  maritime  and  commercial  cities  as  impolitic  and  injurious  to  the  interests  of 
our  navigation,  as  well  as  to  the  French  West  Indies,  and  it  was  very  generally  wished 
that  an  opportunity  might  occur  of  recovering  that  colony.  One  of  the  first  cares  of 
Bonaparte  was  to  renew  with  the  court  of  Madrid  a  negotiation  on  that  subject. 

He  succeeded  in  these  negotiations,  and  by  the  secret  treaty  of  St. 
lldefouso,  in  1800,  French  domination  was  once  more  established  over 
the  great  river. 

Two  years  later  the  commerce  of  the  river  had  grown  to  large  pro- 
portions. Says  Marbois,  of  that  period :  "  No  rivers  of  Europe  are  more 
frequented  than  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries."  A  substantially  cor- 
rect idea  of  their  patronage  may  be  obtained  from  the  record  of  the  for- 
eign commerce  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  for  nearly  all  of  the 
commodities  collected  there  for  export  had  first  floated  down  the  river. 
Of  the  year  1802,  says  Martin  in  his  historj^  of  Louisiana: 

There  sailed  from  the  Mississippi — 


American  vessels. 
Spanisli  vessels... 
Frencli  vessels... 

Total 


No.      Tous. 


158       21, 383 

104         0,753 

3  105 


•J65  I     31,  241 


The  tonnage  of  vessels  that  went  in  ballast,  not  that  of  public  armed  ones,  is  not 
included.     The  latter  took  oft'  masts,  yards,  spars,  and  naval  stores. 

This  growing  commercial  movement  down  the  river  of  the  ])roducts 
of  the  valley  was  checked  by  a  foolish  or  arbitrary  order  issued  on  the 
]6th  of  October,  1802,  by  the  Intendant  Morales,  "suspending  the  right 
of  dei)Osit"  at  the  i>ort  of  New  Orleans. 

Marbois  well  illustrates  the  intense  indignation  at  this  order  on  the 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  7 

part  of  the  Western  people  by  attributing  to  them  the  following  lan- 
guage: 

Tbo  Mississippi  is  ours  by  the  law  of  nature ;  it  belongs  to  us  by  our  numbers,  and 
by  the  labor  which  we  have  bestowed  on  those  spots  which  before  our  arrival  were 
desert  and  barren.  Our  innumerable  rivers  swell  it  and  flow  with  it  into  the  Gulf 
Sea.  Its  mouth  is  the  only  issue  which  nature  has  given  to  our  waters,  and  we  wish 
to  use  it  for  our  vessels.     No  power  in  the  world  shall  deprive  us  of  this  right. 

Of  Morales'  order  James  Madison,  then  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  to 
the  official  representative  of  the  United  States  at  the  court  of  Spain: 

You  are  aware  of  the  sensibility  of  our  Western  citizens  to  such  an  occurrence. 
This  sensibility  is  justified  by  the  interest  thej-^  have  at  stake.  The  Mississippi  to 
them  is  everything.  It  is  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware,  the  Potomac,  and  all  the  navi- 
gable rivers  of  the  Atlantic  States  formed  into  one  stream. 

At  this  time  Thomas  Jefferson  was  President,  and  in  view  of  the  un- 
easiness of  the  Western  settlers,  he  hastened  to  send  to  France  a  special 
embassador  to  negotiate  for  the  ]>urchase  of  Louisiana  Territory.  The 
opportunity  was  a  favorable  one,  for  France  was  then  in  danger  of  a 
conflict  with  Great  Britain.  The  latter  country  had  become  alarmed  at 
and  jealous  of  Bonaparte's  commercial  conquests,  and  he,  apprehending 
war  and  fearing  that  he  could  not  hold  Louisiana,  had  about  determined 
to  do  the  next  best  thing — dispose  of  it  to  one  of  England's  rivals. 

Marbois,  the  historian  of  Louisiana,  from  whom  we  have  above  quoted, 
was  chosen  by  Napoleon  to  represent  France  in  the  negotiations  with 
the  representative  of  the  United  States  sent  by  Jefferson.  His  account 
of  the  cession — the  consultation  between  Napoleon  and  his  ministers — 
and  of  his  remarks  and  motives,  forms  one  of  the  most  instructive  and 
interesting  chapters  of  modern  history.  Napoleon  foreshadowed  his 
action  by  the  following  remark  to  one  of  his  counselors: 

To  emancipate  nations  from  the  commercial  tyranny  of  England  it  is  necessary  to 
balance  her  influence  by  a  maritime  power  that  may  one  day  become  her  rival ;  that 
power  is  the  United  States.  The  English  aspire  to  dispose  of  all  the  riches  of  the 
world.  I  shall  be  useful  to  the  whole  universe  if  I  can  prevent  their  ruling  America 
as  they  rule  Asia. 

In  a  subsequent  conversation  with  two  of  his  ministers,  on  the  10th  of 
April,  1803,  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  cession,  he  said  in  speaking 
of  England:  "They  shall  not  have  the  Mississippi  which  they  covet." 

In  accordance  with  this  conclusion,  on  the  30th  day  of  the  same 
month,  the  sale  was  made  to  the  United  States.  When  informed  that 
his  instructions  had  been  carried  out  and  the  treaty  consummated,  he 
remarked: 

This  accession  of  territory  strengthens  forever  the  power  of  the  United  States,  and 
I  have  just  given  to  England  a  maritime  rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble  her 
pride. 

Under  the  stimulating  influence  of  American  enterprise  the  commerce 
of  the  valley  rapidly  developed.  In  1812  it  entered  upon  a  new  era  of 
progress  by  the  introduction  for  the  first  time  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  of  steam  transportation. 

The  river  trade  then  grew  from  year  to  year,  until  the  total  domes- 
tic exports  of  its  sole  outlet  at  the  sea-board — the  port  of  New  Or- 
leans— had  during  the  fiscal  year  1855-'56  reached  the  value  of  over 
$80,000,000.  Its  prestige  was  then  eclipsed  by  railways,  the  first  line 
reaching  the  Upper  Mississippi  in  1854,  and  the  second  the  Lower  Mis- 
sissippi, at  Saint  Lou's,  in  1857.     Says  Poor: 

The  line  first  opened  in  this  State  from  Chicago  to  the  Mississippi  was  the  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island,  completed  in  February,  1854.     The  completion  of  this  road  extended 


8  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

the  railway  system  of  the  country  to  the  Mississippi,  up  to  this  time  the  great  route 
of  commerce  of  the  interior.  This  work,  iu  counectiou  with  the  numerous  other 
lines  since  opened,  has  almost  wholly  diverted  this  commerce  from  what  may  be 
termed  its  natural  to  artificial  channels,  so  that  no  considerable  portion  of  it  now 
floats  down  the  river  to  Now  Orleans. 

The  correctness  of  this  assertion  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  sta- 
tistics of  the  total  domestic  exports  of  New  Orleans  during  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1879.  They  were  $63,794,000  in  value,  or  $16,000,000 
less  than  in  1856,  when  the  rivalry  with  railways  began. 

But  since  1879  the  river  has  entered  upon  a  new  and  important  era. 
The  successful  completion  of  the  jetties  by  Capt.  James  B.  Eads  in- 
augurated a  new  era  of  river  commerce  and  regained  for  it  some  of  its 
lost  prestige. 

Another  step  of  great  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  Mississippi 
was  taken  about  the  same  time.  The  control  of  its  improvement  was 
transferred  by  Congress  to  a  board  of  skilled  engineers  known  as  the 
Mississippi  Elver  Commission.  The  various  conflicting  theories  of  im- 
provement which  have  for  years  past  done  much  to  defeat  the  grand 
consummation  desired  will  now  be  adjusted  in  a  scientific  and  business- 
like manner. 

Again,  the  rapidly  growing  popular  demand  throughout  the  United 
States  for  more  intimate  commercial  relations  with  Mexico  and  the  sev- 
eral sister  nations  of  Central  and  South  America,  which  lie  opposite 
the  mouth  of  this  great  river  system,  is  stimulating  the  long-neglected 
longitudinal  trade  and  thereby  creating  a  new  demand  for  transporta- 
tion on  the  longitudinal  water-ways  which  comprise  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries. 

The  practical  extension  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  by 
the  coming  opening  of  an  interoceau  canal  or  ship  railway,  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Central  America  or  Tehuantepec,  is  still  another  commer- 
cial departure  which  will  soon  make  a  new  demand  for  water  trans- 
portation up  and  down  the  Mississippi  Yalley. 

In  view  of  this  tendency  of  American  commerce  and  transportation 
a  general  or  bird's  eye  view  of  the  Mississippi,  its  tributaries,  supple- 
ments, and  national  and  international  features  will,  it  is  thought,  be  of 
value  to  the  producers  and  consumers  who  are  so  deeply  interested  in 
the  subject  of  cheap  transportation  between  the  great  interior  and  the 
sea-board. 


II.-DESCRIPTIVE  NOTES. 

EXTENT  AS  A  DRAINAGE   SYSTEM. 

The  Mississippi  and  tributaries,  considered  as  a  drainage  system,  ex- 
tend nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  United  States,  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf,  and  across  more  than  half  its  width,  or  from  the  summit  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains  to  that  of  the  Alleghanies. 

The  Mississippi  basin,  in  its  strict  sense,  comprises  the  following 
minor  basins  or  subdivisions: 


Basin. 

Square  miles. 

Basin. 

Square  miles. 

65,  646 

92,721 

184,  742 

527,690 

179,  635 
207,  111 

Red  

Ohio 

Total 

1. 257,  545 

Of  the  many  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  river  two  hundred  and 
forty  are  considered  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  named  upon  the 
river  map  in  Walker's  Statistical  Atlas  of  the  United  States.  They 
may  be  classified  as  follows  : 

Eed  and  tributaries 17 

Arkansas  and  tributaries 28 

Missouri  and  tributaries 76 

Ohio  and  tributaries 58 

Others  not  included  in  the  above  classification 61 

Total 240 

Probably  as  many  more  streams  of  minor  importance  are  omitted 
from  the  map. 

EXTENT  AS   COMMERCIAL  HIGHWAYS. 


Considered  from  a  commercial  stand-point  the  MississijDpi  and  tribu- 
taries intersect  or  border  twenty-one  States  and  Territories,  as  follows : 


Alabama. 

Arkansas. 

Dakota  Territory. 

Illinois. 

Indiana. 

Indian  Territory. 

Iowa. 


Kansas. 

Kentucky. 

Louisiana. 

Minnesota. 

Mississippi. 

Missouri. 

Montana  Territory. 


Nebraska. 

Ohio. 

Pennsylvania. 

Tennessee. 

Texas. 

West  Virginia. 

Wisconsin. 


Steamers  can  now  transport  freight  in  unbroken  bulk  from  St.  An- 
thony's Falls  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  a  distance  of  2,161  miles,  and  from 
Pittsburgh  to  Fort  Benton,  Mont.,  4,333  miles. 

Lighter  craft  can  ascend  the  Missouri  to  Great  Falls,  near  where  that 
river  leaves  the  Eocky  Mountains. 

9 


10 


TlIK    Ml.sSliiSiri'l    AM)    Jis    .N.W  l(.>.\l5Lh     IKIHUTAKILS. 


The  outline  map  precediiif;- Chapter  1  has  beeu  prepared  to  illustrate 
the  comprehensive  nature  of  this  great  river  system.  Its  Briareau 
arms  reach  out  in  all  directions  and  embrace  nearly  the  whole  United 
States. 

The  cross-mark  on  each  stream  indicates  the  head  of  navigation,  and 
in  nearly  every  instance  continuous  navigation. 

The  lollowiiig  table  represents  the  mileage  of  the  navigable  portion 
of  each  above  its  month : 


It'ame  of  river. 


I  Miles. 


Missuuvi 3, 

Mississippi 2, 

Ohio 1, 


Red  

Arkansas 

White 

TcniK'ssee  . . . 

Ciiiuberland 

Yellowstono 

Onrichita 

Wabash 

Osase 


Minnesota 

i;(i:ul" 

Suntiower 

Illinois 

Yazoo . . . 

Bartholmew 

Black  (Arkansas) . 

Green 

St.  Francis 

Tallahatchie 

Wisconsin 


Name  of  river.  Miles. 


Cache  (Arlcausiis) >  160 

Macon 130 

Allejrbeny 1  123 

Deei  Creek ;  116 

Monougahela 110 

Kentucky ,  105 

Kenawha |  94 

Muskingum  i  9-1 

Ten.sas I  92 

Iowa 80 

Current     '  80 

Big  Hatchie V.t 

Eock 6^ 

Black  (Louisiana) 6; 

Chippewa J 57 

St.  Cioix j  55 

Big  Horn 50 

Clinch 50 

Little  Red  ..  49 

Big  Cvpvess  and  Lake 44 

Big  Black 35 

Dauchite 33 


The  total  present  navigation  of  these  rivers,  45  in  all,  is  16,090  miles — 
more  than  four  times  the  length  of  the  oceau  line  from  New  York  to 
Liverpool,  and  more  than  four  times  tiie  distance  by  rail  across  the 
continent  from  Xew  York  to  San  Francisco. 

But  it  will  be  largely  increased  in  the  near  future,  when  certain  pro- 
posed and  needed  improvements  are  made  on  some  of  the  upper  streams. 
The  possibilities  in  this  respect  are  well  illustrated  by  the  condition  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi.  Of  it  the  Select  Committee  of  the  United  States 
Senate  on  Transportation  Routes  to  the  Sea-board  said,  in  their  report 
in  ]874: 

The  Mi.ssis.sippi  has  for  several  years  beeu  successfully  uavigatetl  by  steam-boats 
from  the  falls  of  St.  Authouy  to  Sauk  Rapids,  a  distance  of  78  miles.  Duriug  uavi- 
gable  seasons  small  steam-boats  are  also  ruu  on  the  various  reaches  of  tlie  river  from 
Minneapolis  to  Leech  Lake,  the  entire  distance  being  about  675  miles. 

It  is  safe  to  assert  that  by  improving  .several  tributaries  the  total 
navigation  may  be  extended  at  least  1,000  miles. 

VALLEY  STATES   AND   TERRITORIES. 

As  we  will  have  occasion,  upon  subsequent  images,  to  give  statistics 
in  regard  to  the  si.xteen  valley  States  and  Territories,  and  also  the 
twenty-one  States  and  Territories  intersected  by  the  navigable  portions 
of  this  great  river  system,  it  may  be  well  to  detine  the  lerin  valley.  It 
comprises  the  following  States  and  Territories  : 


Arkansas. 

Dakota. 

Illinois. 

Indianu. 

Indian  Territory. 

Iowa. 


Kansas. 

Kentucky. 

Louisiana. 

Minnesota. 

Mississippi. 


Missouri. 

Ni'braska. 

Ohio. 

Tennessee. 

Wisoonaiu. 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  11 

Strictly  speakiug,  a  fractioual  part  of  a  few  of  these  States  might  be 
omitted  from,  and  portions  of  other  States  inclnded  in,  the  term  valley; 
but  as  the  statistics  which  we  will  have  occasion  to  review  are  arranged 
by  States  we  will  not  attempt  to  include  those  fractioual  i)arts,  but  will 
deal  simply  with  facts  relating  to  whole  States. 

INTERNAL   SUPPLEMENTS. 

Extensive  and  comprehensive  as  are  the  water-ways  of  the  valley, 
they  are  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  popular  and  commercial  demand 
for  inland  water  transportation.  Many  artificial  extensions  have  already 
been  constructed,  and  more  are  projected  or  proposed. 

The  waters  of  the  Mississippi  have  a  present  connection  with  the 
Great  Lakes  by  means  of  a  canal  from  the  Wisconsin  River  to  Fox 
Eiver  and  Lake  Michigan,  by  a  canal  from  the  Wabash  River  to  Lake 
Erie  at  Toledo,  a  canal  from  the  Ohio  Kiver  at  Cincinnati  to  Lake  Erie 
at  Toledo,  and  a  canal  from  the  Ohio  River  at  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  to 
Lake  Erie  at  Cleveland — all  of  which  canals  are  in  turn  supplemented 
by  the  water  route  via  the  Lakes,  Erie  Canal,  and  Hudson  River  to  New 
York  City,  thereby  uniting  the  Mississippi  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

These  four  canals,  and  consequently  the  Mississippi,  have  another 
connection  with  the  Atlantic  by  way  of  the  Lakes,  Wellaud  Canal,  around 
Niagara  Falls,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  for  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment at  a  great  cost  comi3leted  the  necessary  connecting  link. 

It  is  also  proposed  to  unite  the  Mississippi  with  Lake  Michigan  by 
means  of  a  canal  extending  from  Davenport,  Iowa,  to  Hennepin,  on  the 
Illinois  River,  and  thence  to  Chicago. 

Again  it  is  proposed  that  the  United  States  utilize  the  St.  Lawrence 
route  by  extending  it  to  New  York  City  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain 
and  Hudson  River.  Such  a  connection  has  already  been  favorably 
reported  by  the  Select  Committee  of  the  United  States  Senate  on 
Transportation  Routes  to  the  Sea-board.  A  noticeable  feature  of  this 
route  is  the  connection  in  this  way  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  with  a 
New  England  State,  Vermont. 

It  is  also  proposed  to  unite  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Lakes  with  the  Atlantic  at  Baltimore  by  means  of  a  canal  from  the  ex- 
isting Erie  Canal,  via  Seneca  Lake,  to  an  upper  tributary  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna, and  thence  to  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Again,  a  direct  connection  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  Atlantic  at 
Baltimore,  without  use  of  the  Lakes,  is  proposed  by  way  of  the  Alleghany 
River  from  Pittsburgh,  the  Kiskiminetas  and  Conemaugh  Rivers,  thence 
to  the  Juniata  Valley  and  the  Susquehanna,  and  down  that  river  to 
Chesapeake  Bay.  A  similar  connection  with  Philadelphia  is  proposed 
by  the  same  route  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  Susquehanna,  and  thence 
across  to  Delaware  Bay. 

Located  a  little  farther  south  is  the  line  of  the  projected  and  partially 
constructed  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  intended  to  connect  the  Atlan- 
tic with  the  West  by  way  of  the  Potomac,  Youghiogheny,  Monongahela, 
and  Ohio  Rivers.  The  line  is  already  completed  from  Washington  to 
Cumberland.  It  was  earnestly  advocated  by  President  Washington, 
who  wished  in  this  way  to  strengthen  the  political  and  commercial  ties 
between  the  Atlantic  States  and  the  West. 

Next  is  the  proposed  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal,  to  connect 
the  Atlantic  with  the  Mississippi  Valley  by  way  of  the  James,  Green- 
brier, New,  Kanawha,  and  Ohio  Rivers.  This  route  is  already  con- 
structed from  Richmond  to  Buchanan,  Va.,  a  distance  of  197  miles.     It 


12  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

was  recently  recomiueuded  by  the  said  Senate  Committee  on  Transpor- 
tation Eontes. 

Still  further  south  it  is  proposed  to  supplement  the  Mississippi  by 
means  of  a  water  line  from  the  Tennessee  Kiver,  at  Gunters  ville,  East 
Tennessee,  via  Short  Creek,  Wills  Creek,  Coosa,  Etowah,  and  Ocniulgee 
Kivers,  and  thence  along  the  coast  to  Savannah,  Ga.  This  route  was 
also  recommended  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Transportation  Koutes. 

In  the  far  West  it  is  proposed  to  unite  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Mis- 
souri and  Columbia  Rivers,  thereby  connecting  the  Mississippi  Valley 
with  the  Pacific  Ocean.  A  bill  to  provide  for  a  survey  and  report  upon 
this  route  has  recently  been  introduced  in  Congress. 

These  various  existing  and  proposed  supplements  may  be  seen  by  a 
reference  to  the  map  preceding  Chapter  I. 

INTER-OCEAN  SUPPLEMENTS. 

To  consummate  the  new  commercial  movement  down  the  river  and 
direct  trade  relations  with  the  foreign  countries  around  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Oceans,  two  other  great  works  are  needed — inter-ocean  transit 
across  I^lorida  on  the  one  side  and  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  on  the 
other.  The  natural  relations  of  both  enterprises  to  the  Mississippi  are 
most  intimate.  Each  may  appropriately  be  termed  a  supplement  or 
extension  of  the  river.  ^ 

The  proposed  Florida  ship-canal  will  shorten  the  distance  between 
New  Orleans  and  Xew  York  571  statute  miles  each  way,  or  1,142  on  the 
round  trip.  It  will  shorten  the  voyage  between  New  Orleans  and  Liv- 
erpool 473  statute  miles  each  way,  or  94G  on  the  round  trip. 

The  great  saving  of  distance  via  this  route,  together  with  its  ad- 
vantages in  point  of  safety  over  the  present  hazardous  route  around 
the  southern  extremity  of  Florida,  will  render  it  a  material  aid  to  the 
Mississippi  in  preventing  the  acquisition  by  Canada  of  the  grain  trans- 
portation business  between  the  valley  and  Liverpool. 

Ou  the  18th  of  December,  1880,  Mexico  entered  into  a  contract  with 
Capt.  James  B.  Eads  for  the  construction  of  a  ship-railway  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuanteiiec. 

This  inter-ocean  line,  when  completed,  will  give  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  its  surroundings  their  first  direct  commercial  outlet  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  its  surrounding  countries,  with  the  following  saving  of  dis- 
tances over  the  existing  railway  at  Panama  and  the  existing  steam-ship 
route  around  Cape  Horn : 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Hong-Kong  :  Statute  miles. 

Via  Isthnins  of  Tehuantepec  (great  circle) 10,  092 

Via  Isthmus  of  Panama  (great  circle) 11,'J12 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) I,d20 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (rounrl  trij)) 3,640 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Hong  Koug: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  (great  circle) 10,092 

Via  Cape  Horn  (great  circle) 20,594 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 10,  r)02 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 21,004 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Yokoham.a: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Teiiuantepec  (great  circle) 8,  549 

Via  Isthmus  of  Panama  (great  circle) 10,369 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 1,  fts20 

Saving  via  Teli  nan  tepee  (round  trip) 3,640 

Mouth  of  tlie  Mississipi)!  to  Yokohama: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehnanteptic  (great  circle  )   8,549 

Via  Cape  Horn  (great  circle) 20,  Old 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 11.469 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 22,  938 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  13 

Statute  miles. 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Sydney,  Australia: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehuautepec  (great  circle) 9, 188 

Via  Isthmus  of  Panama  (great  circle) 10,  341 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 1, 153 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 2,306 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  Sydney,  Australia: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  (great  circle) 9, 188 

Via  Cape  Horn  (great  circle) 14,  975 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 5,787 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 11,574 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  San  Francisco : 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 3,466 

Via  Isthmus  of  Panama 5,302 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 1,836 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 3,672 

Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  San  Francisco: 

Via  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 3,466 

Via  Cape  Horn 15,908 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (one  way) 12,442 

Saving  via  Tehuantepec  (round  trip) 24, 884 


III. -ECONOMICAL  FEATURES. 

CORRECT  LOCATION. 

Kailroads  and  other  highways  intended  for  the  acconiiuodation  of  com- 
merce fall  far  short  of  snccess  when  unwisely  located.  Too  many  have 
violated  the  laws  of  political  economy  in  this  respect,  and  have  proved 
ruinous  to  their  stockholders  and  almost  useless  to  the  public.  A  nation 
may  sometimes,  for  political  or  military  purposes,  construct  a  road 
through  a  desert  or  mountainous  and  unproductive  region ;  but  neces- 
sity, instead  of  economy,  is  the  theory  on  which  it  acts.  Commerce  is 
governed  by  other  considerations.  It  seeks  that  which  is  both  useful 
and  profitable. 

The  Mississippi  and  tributaries  intersect  the  most  fertile  valley  of  the 
whole  world — the  productive  center  of  this  continent.  It  supplies  trans- 
portation where  most  needed,  and  is,  therefore,  most  wisely  and  eco- 
nomically located. 

CONNECTION  OF  OPPOSITE  CLIMATES. 

Railways  in  the  past  have  given  undue  attention  to  commercial  ex- 
changes along  parallels  of  latitude,  between  similar  climates,  with  sim- 
ilar products  and  characteristics.  The  tendency  of  the  whole  Mississippi 
Eiver  system  is  the  other  way,  from  north  to  south,  one  climate  to  an- 
other, regions  which  are  the  reverse  and  complement  of  each  other  in 
supply  and  demand.  In  this  respect  also  it  observes  a  fundamental 
law  of  trade. 

CONSTRUCTION  BY  NATURE. 

The  next  important  consideration  in  a  transportation  line  is  the  cost 
of  construction.  Kailway  stockholders  expect  dividends,  and  if  their 
roads  be  extravagantly  built  the  burden  is  soon  shifted  to  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  producer  and  consumer  along  the  way  in  the  shape  of  ex- 
cessive rates.  Even  if  rightly  located  and  cheaply  built,  railroads 
represent  enormous  capital  when  contrasted  with  rivers  made  by  nature 
at  no  expense  to  the  people. 

The  10,090  miles  of  navigable  water-ways  which  constitute  the  com- 
mercial part  of  the  Mississippi  River  system  were  constructed  and  pre- 
sented by  nature  at  no  cost  to  the  people.  But  they  are  just  as  valuable 
as  if  artificially  built.  They  are  the  nation's  property,  and  should,  like 
its  military  roads,  its  custom-houses,  post-offices,  and  other  property,  be 
kept  in  repair.  Congress  is  the  board  of  management  for  this  purpose, 
and  should,  in  guarding  the  people's  transportation  property,  exercise 
the  f?ame  skill  and  observe  the  same  laws  of  economy  as  railway  directors 
who  are  chosen  to  manage  the  railway  lines  owned  by  individual  stock- 
holders. 

14 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  15 

C0M3IERCIAL   VALUE. 

There  were,  diiriug  the  census  year  1880,  87,782  miles  of  railway  in 
operation  in  the  United  States,  bnilt  at  a  total  cost,  for  construction, 
of  $4,112,367,176,  or  an  average  of  $46,848  per  mile. 

Now,  in  view  of  the  facts  and  figures  showing  the  superior  and 
economical  location  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  navigable  tributaries, 
their  wonderful  commercial  cai)acity,  their  facilities  for  cheap  transpor- 
tation, the  enormous  annual  products  of  the  twenty-one  States  and 
Territories  intersected,  and  the  colossal  proportions  of  their  internal 
commerce,  it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  estimate  their  actual  commer- 
cial value  as  follows : 

The  Lower  Mississippi,  from  Saint  Louis  to  the  Gulf,  at  $468,480  per 
mile,  or  ten  times  the  average  cost  per  mile  of  the  railways  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Upper  Mississippi,  from  Saint  Louis  to  St.  Anthony's  Falls,  at 
8327,936  per  mile,  or  seven  times  that  of  the  average  railway. 

The  Ohio,  from  its  mouth  to  Pittsburgh,  the  Missouri,  from  its  mouth 
to  Sioux  City,  the  Ked  River,  from  its  mouth  to  Shreveport,  and  the 
Cumberland,  from  its  mouth  to  Nashville,  at  $234,240  per  mile,  or  five 
times  that  of  the  average  railway. 

The  remaining  navigable  tributaries  of  the  Mississi^ipi  at  $46,848  per 
mile,  or  the  same  as  that  of  the  average  railway. 

We  have  then  a  total  valuation  as  follows : 

The  Lower  Mississippi,  from  Saint  Louis  to  the  Gulf  (1,352  miles) |633,387,664 

The  Upper  Mississippi,  from  Saint  Louis  to  St.  Anthony's  Falls  (809 

miles) : 265,300,224 

The  Ohio,  from  its  mouth  to  Pittsburgh  (1,021  miles) 239,159,040 

The  Missouri,  from  its  mouth  to  Sioux  City  (1,019  miles) 238,690,560 

The  Red,  from  its  mouth  to  Shreveport  (456  miles) 106,813,440 

The  Cumberland,  from  its  mouth  to  Nashville  (209  miles) 48,956,160 

The  remaining  navigable  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  (i0,774  miles)..  522,542,592 

Total  value 2,054,849,680 

In  other  words,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  in  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  forty-four  navigable  tributaries,  highways  of  commerce 
and  cheap  transportation  to  the  sea-board  to  the  enormous  value  of 
$2,000,000,000.  This  property  was  a  present  from  nature.  The  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  will  they  manage  it  on  business  principles  and 
keep  it  in  an  adequate  state  of  repairs? 

COST   OP  REPAIRS. 

The  total  sum  expended  by  the  General  Government  from  March  4, 
1789,  to  June  30,  1886  (a  period  of  ninety-seven  years),  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Mississippi  and  its  forty-four  navigable  tributaries,  was  in 
round  numbers  about  $51,000,000. 


16 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 


The  expenditures  by  rivers,  compiled  aud  rearranged  from  the  official 
reports  of  the  Treasury  Department,  are  as  follows : 


Name. 


Miaaissippi . 
Ohio. 


Missouri 

Tenuessi'e 

Kaoawba 

Ked  

Illinois 

Cnuiberlaud 

Kentucky  

■Wabash'. 

Arkansaas 

Mouongabela 

Ouacliita 

Osago 

Yazoo 

"White 

Chippewa 

Minnesota 

Muskingum 

Yellowstone 

Cypress  aud  Lake 

St.  Croix 

Black  (Arkansas)  . 

Allegheny 

Sunflower  

St.  Francis , 

Black  ( Louisiana) . . 

Tallahatchie 

Clinch 

Big  Hatcliie , 

Bartholomew 


Amount. 


$29, 
5, 


785,  666 
048,  348 
866,  905 
816,  456 
749,  000 
443,  793 
161,000 
722,  479 
709,  908 
487,  500 
420,  076 
303,  600 
2'JO,  000 
189,  994 
143,  000 
142,  000 
128, 000 
117,500 
110,  000 
100,  000 
94,000. 
75.  000 
51,000 
50,  000 
42,  000 
27,  OOO 
25,  000 
24,  000 
21,000 
19,000 
18,  000 


Name. 


Bauf 

Tensas    

Current 

Bijr  Black  (Mississippi) 

Ruck 

Green     

Wisconsin  (see  Miscellaneons). 

Cache 

Macon 

Deer  Creek 

Iowa  (see  Miscellaneons) . 

Big  Horn 

Little  Red 

Dauchite 


$15,  000 

7,000 

7,000 

5,  000 

934 


Miscellaneous. 

Fox  and  Wisconsin 

Mississippi,   Ohio,   Missouri,  and 

Arkansas 

Mississippi  and  Ohio 

Mississippi,  Missouri,  and  Arkan- 
sas   

Mississippi,  Missouri,  aud  Ohio  ... 

White  and  St.  Francis 

Mississippi  and  Missouri 

Lower  Mississippi  and  tributaries 

White,  Black,  and  Little  Red 

White,  Black,  and  St.  Francis 

Des  Moines  and  Iowa 


Total . 


2,  579,  522 

2,  484, 937 
031,  500 

265,  000 

222,  923 

132,  000 

98,541 

11,  855 

10,  000 

1,  623 

999 


55, 654, 209 


A  slight  deduction  should  be  made  from  the  grand  total,  as  Fox 
Kiver,  included  in  the  list,  is  not  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi ;  but  as 
its  appropriation  is  combined  with  that  of  the  Wisconsin,  which  is  a 
tributary,  the  two  can  not  be  separatetl.  Another  slight  deduction, 
probably  about  $3,000,000,  should  be  made  from  the  total  for  unex- 
pended balances  carried  to  the  surplus  fuud,  but  this  deduction  can  not 
be  given  by  rivers.  Estimating  the  two  deductions  at  $4,000,000,  we 
have  as  a  net  total  of  expenditures  for  the  improvement  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  forty-four  navigable  tributaries  $51,654:,209.  This  is  at  the 
rate  of  8532,515  per  year  during  the  ninety-seven  years  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Government  for  the  improvement  of  forty-five  rivers,  navi- 
gable to  the  extent  of  16,090  miles,  or  at  the  rate  of  833  per  mile  per  year. 

As  the  commercial  value  of  these  forty-five  rivers  is,  on  a  previous 
page,  estimated  at  82,054,849,680,  the  total  cost  of  repairs  during  the 
ninety-seven  years  was  but  2i  i^er  cent,  of  their  value,  or  at  the  rate  of 
one-fortieth  of  1  jier  cent,  of  their  value  per  year. 

In  brief,  the  forty-five  rivers  cost  nothing,  being  a  present  from  na- 
ture, and  their  repairs  next  to  nothing. 

COittiVIERCIAL  CAPACITY. 

The  enormous  capacity  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  principal  tributaries 
for  the  transportation  of  bulky  agricultural,  forestry,  and  mineral  prod- 
ucts of  the  States  intersected  was  admirably  illustrated  by  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  which  appeared  in  the  Western  i^apers  in  1879.  It  is  a 
volume  in  itself,  and  worthy  of  frequent  repetition  to  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  the  producers  of  this  country  the  great  commercial  importance 
of  the  water-ways  with  which  they  have  l)een  so  liberally  endowed  by 
nature: 

The  tow-boat  Josh  JiilliayiiH  is  on  licr  w.ay  to  New  Orleans  with  a  tow  of  thirty-two 
barges,  containing  000,000  bushels  (70  ponuds  to  the  bushel)  of  coal,  exclusive  of  her 
own  fuel,  being  the  largest  tow  ever  taken  to  New  Orleans  or  anywhere  else  in  the 
■world.     Her  freight  bill,  at  :5  cents  a  bushel,  amounts  to  •Sl'i.OOO. 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIOABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  17 

It  would  take  1,800  cars  of  333  busLels  to  the  car  (which  is  an  overload  for  a  car) 
to  transport  this  atnouut  of  coal. 

At  .|10  per  ton,  or  .?100  per  car,  which  would  be  a  fair  price  for  the  disfance  by  rail, 
the  freight  bill  would  amount  to  $180,000,  or  $162,000  more  by  rail  than  by  river. 

The  tow  will  be  taken  from  Pittsburgh  to  New  Orleans  in  fourteen  or  fifteen  days. 

It  would  require  one  hundred  trains,  of  eighteen  cars  to  the  train,  to  transport  this 
one  tow  of  600,000  bushels  of  coal,  and  even  if  it  made  the  usual  speed  of  fast  freight 
lines  it  would  take  one  whole  summer  to  put  it  through  by  rail. 

This  statement  shows  the  wonderful  superiority  of  this  river  over  rail  facilities. 

CHEAP   TRANSPORTATION. 

The  question  of  cheap  transportation  has  during  late  years  assumed 
great  importance,  for  the  reason  that  it  affects  both  internal  and  for- 
eign commerce  and  the  welfare  of  botb  the  producer  and  consumer. 
When  the  rates  are  too  high,  production  is  checked.  It  has  been  no 
unusual  thing  to  hear  of  farmers  in  the  West  burning  or  otherwise  de- 
stroying their  grain  because  it  was  unprofitable  to  ship  it  abroad.  The 
object  of  commercial  exchanges  is  profit,  and  where  that  does  not  exist 
internal  commerce  suflers.  So  with  foreign  exchanges.  If  England 
and  France  and  other  purchasers  of  our  grain  and  provisions  can  buy 
at  cheaper  rates  elsewhere  thej^  are  sure  to  do  so.  The  competition 
among  commercial  nations  is  so  great  that  a  trifling  overcharge  in  rates 
of  transportation  may  cost  the  loss  of  an  important  market. 

The  rivals  of  the  Unite4  States  will,  if  they  can  supply  Liverpool  at 
cheaper  rates,  control  that  market.  The  subject  was  well  illustrated  in 
a  public  letter  by  ex-Governor  Horatio  Seymour  in  the  fall  of  1878,  who 
has  carefully  studied  the  effect  of  the  Erie  Canal  on  freight  rates.  We 
quote  the  following  following  from  that  letter  : 

Those  who  wish  to  learn  the  causes  of  our  present  exports  must  compare  the  cost 
of  carrying  this  season  with  that  of  other  years.  It  has  been  15  cents  lor  a  bushel 
of  wheat  Ijy  canal  from  Buffalo  to  New  York.  This  season  at  times  it  has  been  less 
than  .0  cents.  The  cost  from  Chicago  to  New  York  has  been  2.5  cents  for  a  bushel.  In 
the  past  summer  it  has  been  taken  for  less  than  7  cents.  The  policy  of  taking  charges 
off  from  commerce  is  not  only  shown  upon  water  routes ;  it  brought  down  railroad 
charges.  In  1873  the  Central  road  charged  for  taking  wheat  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York  21  cents  jjer  bushel  in  the  winter  and  18  cents  in  the  supimer  months.  This 
year  the  road  has  taken  it  for  5  cents. 

The  effect  of  water  transportation  is  direct  and  indirect.  In  other 
words,  it  furnishes  the  shipper  with  cheap  rates,  and  also,  by  its  com- 
petitive influence,  forces  railways  to  lessen  the  charges. 

The  rates  of  transportation  of  grain  from  the  center  of  the  Mississippi 
Yalley  at  Saint  Louis  to  the  sea-board  at  New  Orleans  by  river,  contrasted 
with  the  rates  from  Saint  Louis  to  New  York  by  rail,  were,  according  to 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Saint  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange,  as  follows 
during  the  past  ten  years: 


Year. 

Aver.ige  rate 
on  wheat, 
in  bulk, 
injbarges, 
by  river,  to 
New  Or- 
leans, per 
bushel. 

Average  rate 
on  grain 

in  sacks,  on 

steam- boat, 
by  river, 

to  A'ew  Or- 
leans, per 

100  pounds. 

Average  rate 

on  grain 

hy  rail  to 

^NewTork, 

per  100 

pounds. 

1877 

Cents. 
8i 
'i 

8| 
6 

6| 
6s 
Gi 

Cents. 
21 
17i 
18 
19 
20 
20 
17| 
14 
13 
16 

Cents 

41 

1878 

W 

1879 

33^ 
4^ 

1880 

18K1..   ..                        ..            

89 

1882 

29^ 

1^83 

18S4 

•'fi 

1885  ...     .                                    .             

22| 

1886 

18  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND*  ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

It  will  he  observed  that  the  rate  oj>  pfraiii  by  river  to  the  sea-board  at 
isew  Orleans  diiriiijj:  1S8G  was  1^^  cents  less  per  hundred  pounds  than  by 
rail  to  the  sea-board  at  New  York.  To  ai)preciate  the  mafrnitude  of  this 
iliflerence  when  applied  to  the  ^rain  crop  of  the  twenty  one  States  and 
Tei-ritories  intersected  by  the  Mississii)pi  and  its  navigable  tributaries, 
supposing:  half  of  the  annual  crop  had  to  be  transported  from  Saint 
Louis  to  the  sea-board,  let  us  glance  at  a  few  statistics. 

Their  total  grain  crop  during  the  year  188.")  was  2,529,781,000  bushels, 
as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  another  i)age.  A  saving  of  7  cents  per 
bushei  on  half  of  this  crop  would  amount  to  $88,042,335. 

But  grain  is'  only  one  item  of  the  agricultural  freights  of  the  valley 
^N'hicii  can  best  be  transported  by  water.  If  to  the  above  sum  of 
■$88,542,335  were  added  the  possible  annual  saving  by  river  transporta- 
tion «oo  the  hay,  coal,  potatoes,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  bulky  products 
<of  the  valley  the  total  would  reach  immense  proi)ortions. 

We  know  of  no  better  conclusion  to  draw  from  the  above  facts  and 
Mgures  than  that  made  by  the  Select  Committee  of  the  United  States 
•Seuate,  in  1874,  on  Transportation  Eoutes  to  the  Sea-board,  after  a  full 
cand  exhaustive  review  of  that  important  subject,  viz: 

The  above  facts  and  conchisions,  together  with  the  remarkable  physical  adaptation 
of  our  conntry  for  cheap  and  ample  water  communication,  point  unerriu<^ly  to  the 
improvement  of  onr  great  natural  water-ways  and  their  couuection  by  canals,  or  by 
short  freight  railway  portages,  under  control  of  the  Government,  as  the  obvious  and 
certain  solution  of  the  problem  of  cheap  transportation. 

The  importance  of  this  subject  may  be  further  illustrated  by  a  glance 
at  the  total  freight  earnings  of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  dur- 
ing a  period  of  only  six  years.     They  were  as  follows: 

■  1881 1.551,968,477 

1382 50ti,  :}67,247 

1883 549,756,(395 

1884 502,869,910 

1885 519,090,992 

Total 2,  630,  65o,  321 

In  other  words,  the  freight  charges  by  the  railways  of  the  United 
States  amount  in  five  vears  to  a  sum  greater  than  the  whole  national 
<iebt. 

We  do  not  make  these  comparisons  for  the  purpose  of  reflecting  upon 
■railways,  but  to  reach  some  statistical  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  value 
and  importance  of  the  rivers  of  the  valley.  In  this  broad,  fertile,  and 
but  partially  develoi)ed  country  there  is  room  enough  for  both  classes 
of  highways.  Railways  are  needed,  not  only  those  now  in  operation, 
but  many  more,  and  rivers  are  needed  as  freight  regulators. 

In  brief,  the  Mississippi  is  the  balance-wheel  which  is  destined  to 

■  regulate  the  railway  freight  movements  of  the  great  interior  of  the 
nation.  This  idea  was  well  expressed  in  the  following  editorial  of  the 
Springfield  liepublican  of  Efecember  13,  1880: 

The  Mississippi  River  is  certain  in  time  to  jday  a  part  in  regulating  transcouti- 
cental  freiglit  transportation  not  unlike  that  of  the  P>ie  Canal  iu  relation  to  the 
New  York  railroads.  The  block  iu  through  freight  on  all  the  East  and  ^Yest  roads 
threatened  last  week  to  set  back  to  Saint  Louis,  but  it  was  relieved  there  by  starting 
the  corn  and  wheat  down  the  river,  from  300  to  400  cars  at  a  time  being  loaded  on 
barges.  As  trade  develops  and  navigation  imi)rovos  it  is  plain  this  must  become 
more  and  more  common,  and  through  rail  rates  will  some  day  be  fixed  by  the  couiiie- 
titiou  of  the  Mississippi,  on  which  navigation  is  never  closed. 


IV -PRODUCTS  OF  STATES  INTERSECTED. 

CO>'TEAST    WITH   THOSE   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  transcendent  commercial  importance  of  the  water-ways  of  the 
Mississippi  and  its  forty-four  navigable  tributaries  can  best  be  appre- 
ciated b3'  a  glance  at  the  statistics  of  the  great  staple  products  of  the 
twenty-one  States  and  Territories  intersected  or  bordered  by  this  system. 

Their  products,  contrasted  with  those  of  the  whole  United  States, 
during  the  last  census  year  (1880)  were  as  follows: 

Nine-eight  per  cent,  of  the  sugar. 

Xinety-four  per  cent,  of  the  coal. 

Eighty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  corn. 

Eighty  one  per  cent,  of  the  pig-iron. 

Seventy- six  per  cent,  of  the  oats. 

Seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the  wheat. 

Sixty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  cotton. 

Sixty-six  per  cent,  of  the  tobacco. 

Sixty  per  cent,  of  the  hay. 

Fifty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  forest  products. 

Fifty-six  per  cent,  of  the  wool. 

Eighty-two  per  cent,  of  the  swine. 

Seventy-seven  per  cent,  of  the  mules. 

Seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the  horses. 

Seventy-three  per  cent,  of  the  cattle. 

Their  total  grain  product  during  the  year  1885  was  as  follows : 

Bushels. 

Indian  coru 1,729,924,000 

Oats 514,100,000 

Wheat 241,722,000 

Barley 22.916,000 

Eye  ^. 15,464,000 

BuckAvbeat 5,  655,  000 

Total 2,529,781,000 

In  other  words,  the  States  and  Territories  tapped  by  the  navigable 
portions  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver  system  produced  grain  to  the  extent 
of  45  bushels  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  United  States, 
estimating  the  population  that  year  at  .55,000,000  souls.  They  are,  then, 
not  onlv  the  granarv  of  the  nation,  but  of  the  world. 

19 


V -INTERNAL  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATES  INTERSECTED. 

ESTIMATE   OF  ITS  VALUE. 

It  is,  of  course,  diflBcult  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  iuterual  commerce 
of  the  twenty-one  States  and  Territories  under  consideration,  for,  un- 
like foreign  commerce,  it  is  not  subject  to  the  hiws  and  regulations 
which  necessitate  a  record  of  transactions  with  foreign  countries. 

The  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  in  his  first  annual  re])ort  on 
the  iuternal  commerce  of  the  United  States,  published  in  1877,  esti- 
mated  its  value  to  be  twenty-five  times  that  of  our  total  foreign  com- 
merce.   Bis  reasons  for  the  estimate  were  as  follows : 

The  relative  importance  of  iuterual  and  of  foreign  commerce  may  be  inferred  from 
tlie  foUo^viug  comparative  statements: 
Estimated  value  of  shipping  (American  and  foreign)  employed  in  our 

foreign  trade $200,000,000' 

Estimated  value  of  tlie  railroads  of  the  United  States 4,600,000,000 

The  value  of  the  commodities  embiaced  in  onr  foreijjn  commerce  and  the  estimated 
value  of  commodities  transported  on  railroads  ure  as  follows: 

Value  of  imports  and  exports  (foreign  commerce) ..^   §1, 121,  034, 277 

Estimated  value  of  commodities   transported  on  rail  (^ internal  com- 
merce)     18,000,000,001: 

It  appears  from  these  estimates  that  the  value  of  the  railroads  of  the  country  i." 
about  twenty-three  times  the  value  of  the  shipping  engaged  in  our  foreign  trade,  and 
that  the  A'alue  of  our  internal  commerce  on  railroads  is  about  sixteen  times  the  value 
of  our  foreign  commeice. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  these  comparative  statements  embrace  the  value  of  our 
entire  foreign  commerce,  whereas  the  data  in  regard  to  internal  commerce  relate  only 
to  railroads. 

If  it  were  possible  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  commerce  between  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  on  the  ocean  and  gulf,  and  on  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  other 
avenues  of  transportation,  we  should  probably  find  that  the  total  value  of  our  internal 
commerce  is  at  least  twenty-live  times  greater  than  the  value  of  our  foreign  c^om- 
merce. 

If  we  accept  this  estimate  as  correct,  we  must  multiply  the  present 
foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  (which  during  the  fiscal  year 
ending  Juue  30,  188G,  was  $1,314,900,906  in  value)  by  twenty-five  to 
reach  the  present  total  of  our  internal  commerce.  The  result  is  the 
enormous  sum  of  $32,874,024,150,  or  more  than  double  the  value  of  the 
foreign  commerce  of  the  whole  world. 

The  question  now  arises,  what  i)ortion  of  this  internal  trade  belongs 
to  the  twenty-one  States  and  Territories  tapped  by  the  navigable  ])or- 
tions  of  the  Mississij)pi  and  tributaries  ?  In  view  of  the  facts  and  figures 
above  given  in  regard  to  their  percentage  of  stajde  products,  it  is 
doubtless  fair  to  assume  that  their  internal  trade  is  at  least  half  that  af 
the  United  States.  The  logical  conclusion,  then,  from  the  above  prem- 
ises IS  that  the  internal  commerce  of  the  twenty-one  States  and  Terri- 
tories is  ujiward  of  s  10,000,000,000  in  valu(>,  or  greater  than  the  foreign 
commerce  of  all  nations  combined. 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 


21 


But  sui)i)ose  tbis  estimate  by  the  Cliief  of  the  Bureau  is  too  high  (an 
a  discussion  of  the  subject  in  a  subsequent  report  seems  to  in<licate), 
and  that  it  be  reduced  one-half,  even  then  the  internal  commerce  of  the 
tweuty-one  States  and  Territories  would  be  as  great  as  the  foreign  com- 
merce of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany  combined. 

HOW  TRANSPORTED. 

In  former  days,  before  the  era  of  railways,  the  products  of  the  val- 
ley were  carried  almost  entirely  by  river.  It  was  also  the  i)rincipal 
passenger  line.  The  small  boats  of  the  early  Spanish  and  French  ex- 
plorers floated  upon  its  waters.  The  early  emigration  from  the  East  to 
the  West  relied  upon  the  waters  of  the  Ohio.  The  trading  posts  of  the 
valley  were  established  upon  the  banks  of  the  various  navigable 
streams,  and  with  the  growth  of  the  towns,  villages,  and  cities  the 
traffic  upon  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries  grew  to  large  proportions. 
But  how  is  it  to-day  ? 

Perhaps  no  fairer  illustration  can  be  found  than  the  receipts  and 
shipments  of  freight  of  Saint  Louis,  situated  as  it  is  in  the  center  of 
this  great  river  system. 

During  the  past  ten  years  the  total  receipts  and  shipments  of  this 
commercial  center  were  in  tons,  as  follows : 


Tear. 

By  River. 

By  Rail. 

1877 

Tons. 
1,  242, 155 
1,  329,  375 
1,366,115 
1,  931,  385 
1,  736,  435 
1,571,985 
1,  306,  565 
1,  03.5,  260 
1,  013,  2^0 
1,  132.  100 

Tons. 
5, 137,  238 

1 878 

5,  655,  866 

1879 

6,  94»,  794 

1 880 

8,  852,  204 

1881 

=■ 

10,  213,  487 

1882 

10,  649,  7S2 

1883 

10, 40.S,  939 

1884 .                    

10,0-52,206 

1885 .       .                    ...              

10,301.301 

1886      .     .                  .     .   -         -       -           --    -   -- 

10,  728, 110 

Total   

13,664,615 

88,  957.  927 

In  brief,  ten  years  ago  19.4  per  cent,  of  annual  freights  of  Saint 
Louis  were  transported  by  river  and  80.6  per  cent,  by  rail ;  but  during 
the  last  year  only  9^  per  cent,  were  transported  by  river. 

INCREASING  DEMAND   FOR  TRANSPORTATION. 


The  importance  of  keeping  the  inland  water  lines  in  good  repair  may 
be  seen  from  the  past  demand  of  the  valley  for  transportation  routes 
to  the  sea-board,  but  still  more  clearly  from  an  examination  of  its  prob- 
able future  growth  and  development.  In  business  matters  we  can 
safely  judge  the  future  by  the  past.  What  material  progress,  then,  do 
we  find,  and  what  may  we  expect  in  the  future  ? 

The  statistics  of  corn  grown  in  the  twenty-one  States  and  Territories 
intersected  by  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries  during  the  years  1860  and 
1885  were  as  follows : 

Bushels. 

l^(ju 651,  •'Jl-4, 4;5(j 

liSo l,7-.i9,l»i4,000 

This  was  an  increase  of  165  per  cent,  in  twenty-five  years. 


22 


THE    MISSI.SSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLB    TRIBUTARIES. 


The  growing  (leniaiul  tbrtrausportatiou  facilities  may  be  further  illus- 
trated by  reference  to  the  statistics  of  iniiiroved  lands  at  the  time  of  the 
census  of  1S7U  and  18S(». 


Ai'kausas 

IllilK.IS... 

Indiana. . 
Iowa 


Kansas 

Kentucky. . 
Loui.siaua.. 
Miuue.--oia 
Mississippi 
Missouri ... 
Nebraska  .. 
Ohio 


Tennessee 

■Wisconsin 

Dakota 

Judiau  Territory. 

Total 


State. 


Total  area. 


cres. 
■106, 
4G2. 
637, 
228, 
043, 
115. 
461. 
45U, 

la". 

824, 
636, 
576, 
\U, 
511, 
596, 
154. 


-Improved 
land,  1870. 


cres. 
859,  821 
329,  952 
104.  279 
396, 467 
971.  003 
103,  850 
U45,  640 
322, 102 
209,  14G 
13U,  615 
647,  031 
469, 133 
&43,  278 
899, 343 
42,  645 


Improved 
land,  188U. 


Aeren. 

3.  595,  603 
26,  215, 154 
13,  933,  738 
19.866.541 
10,  739,  566 
10,  731,  682 

2,  739.  972 

7,  246,  693 
5,  216,  937 

16,  745,  031 
5,  504,  702 
18,081,091 

8,  4!t6,  5.'6 

9,  162,  528 
1,150,413 


632,  479, 360  |   96,  374,  305    159,  326,  208 


The  contrast  shows  that  in  1870  only  lo  percent,  of  the  area  of  these 
great  and  productive  States  and  Territories  was  then  improved,  and 
that  85  per  cent,  remained  for  development,  and  that  in  1880  but  25 
per  cent.,  or  one-fourth  part,  was  improved. 

The  coal  fields  of  the  vallev  States  furnish  still  more  striking  evi- 
dence to  the  same  effect.  Their  product  and  its  increase  in  fifteen 
years  were  as  follows  : 

Tons. 

1870 6,793,098 

1^6o 32,  llr;,^08 

Increase 25,  32.^,  110 

Ur  more  than  370  per  cent. 

That  increase  is  trifling  compared  with  what  we  may  expect  in  the 
near  future,  for  the  coal  deposits  of  these  States  are  the  most  extensive 
that  exist  in  the  whole  country,  yet  the  least  develoi)ed. 

These  facts  and  figures  clearly  indicate  that  we  may  expect  a  regu- 
larly increasing  demand  for  cheap,  convenient,  and  untrammeled  trans- 
portation from  the  valley  to  the  sea-board,  until  its  fertile  fields  are 
adequately  populated  and  developed. 

Unless  this  reasonable  demand  is  supplied  by  a  thorough  and  com- 
prehensive improvement  of  the  channels  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  con- 
fluents, the  natural  development  of  the  great  interior  States  will  fall 
far  short  of  their  possibilities,  and  the  consumers  of  the  East,  as  well 
as  the  producers  of  the  West,  will  sufler  from  the  neglect. 


VI -ALLUVIAL  LANDS. 

AREA  AND  PRESENT  CONDITION. 

The  area  of  the  alluvial  lands  along  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  tribu- 
taries is  41,193  square  miles,  being  as  large  as  the  combined  areas  of  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Khode  Island,  Connecticut,  and 
]^ew  Jersey.  It  is  three  fourths  the  extent  of  England,  which  contains 
52,922  square  miles,  and  more  than  eighteen  times  larger  than  Holland; 
which  is  a  rich  country  formed  by  the  protection  of  alluvial  lands  along 
certain  rivers  and  the  Zuyder  Zee.  This  area  of  the  Mississippi  Delta, 
reduced  to  acres,  is  20,363,520.  According  to  those  most  familiar  with, 
the  subject,  and  who  are  competent  judges,  all  but  10  percent,  of  these 
lands  are  susceptible  of  cultivation  and  of  unsurpassed  fertility.  We 
have,  then,  23,727,168  acres  to  be  protected,  their  increased  values  to  be 
added  to  tbe  general  wealth  and  their  products  to  help  swell  the  sum 
total  of  the  national  industries. 

What  is  their  present  condition  ?  We  find  that  in  1870  but  1,969,235- 
acres,  or  less  than  8  per  cent,  of  their  area,  was  under  cultivation. 

Why  are  these  rich  and  productive  lands  thus  neglected  ?  Chiefly,  if" 
not  solely,  because  of  the  periodical  destruction  of  crops,  buildings,  and. 
danger  to  health  and  even  life  from  the  overflow  of  the  river. 

PRESENT  VALUE. 

The  value  of  the  above  1,969,238  acres,  improved  in  1870,  was,  accord- 
ing to  an  estimate  by  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  Army,  $80,431,221,. 
or  840.84  per  acre.  The  remaining  21,757,930  acres  which  are  unim- 
proved, but  susceptible  of  cultivation,  had  but  trifling  values,  say  from 
10  cents  to  $2  per  acre.  Mr.  Ellis  said,  in  his  report  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  1876:  "Millions  of  acres  have  been  sold  for  taxes  ;: 
others,  after  advertisement,  have  failed  to  bring  anything  whatever." 
It  is  believed  81.25  was  iu  1876  a  fair  estimate  of  the  value  per  acre  of 
those  unimproved  lands.  We  reach,  then,  the  following  conclusion,, 
supposing  the  values  and  areas  cultivated  have  not  materially  changed  r 

Value  of  improved  lands $80,431,221 

Value  of  unimproved  lands 27, 197,612: 

Total  value 107,628,&33; 

FUTURE  VALUE  IF  PROTECTED. 

Xow,  let  us  consider  their  possibilities.  The  totals  resulting  are  sa- 
large  that  only  by  comparison  can  we  appreciate  the  fairness  of  the 
estimate. 

Probably  no  one  will  dispute  the  assertion  that  the  Delta  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi is  as  productive  as  the  Delta  of  the  Rhine  iu  the  Netherlands, 
and  if  the  statistics  of  the  value  of  the  protected  lands  in  Holland  and 

23 


24  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

otber  provinces  of  tlie  Xetlit'ilaii(l.s  wtMe  accessible,  it  would  be  an  in- 
terestinj;  and  fair  comparison,  because  of  the  similarity  existing  be- 
tween these  countries.  But  as  they  are  not  within  reach,  we  will  take 
for  a  comparison  the  farm  lands  of  New  Jersey.  We  select  that  State, 
because  its  farm  lands  have  a  very  high  value  per  acre,  and  for  the 
further  reason  that  no  lands  in  the  country  are  too  fertile  and  valuable 
to  be  contrasted  with  the  possibilities  of  the  Mississi{)pi  Delta. 

According  to  the  United  States  census  of  1880  the  average  value  per 
acre  of  the  2,090,207  acres  of  improved  lauds  in  New  Jersey,  including 
farms,  fences,  and  buildings,  was  801  per  acre. 

The  alluvial  lauds  of  the  Mississij)pi,  if  i)rotected  and  improved, 
wouhl,  at  that  rate  per  acre,  be  worth  82,300,080,320.  As  their  present 
value  is  but  8107,028,833,  the  increase  would  be  more  than  $2,000,000,000. 

PRODUCTIVE   CAPACITY. 

It  certainly  is  not  an  overestimate  of  the  productive  capacity  of  the 
alluvial  lauds  to  sa}'  they  will  yield  on  an  average  as  much  as  the  farm 
lands  of  Xew  Jersey.  Such  a  comparison  doubtless  underestimates 
their  capacity'.  The  value  per  acre  of  the  products  of  the  improved  lands 
of  said  State  was,  in  1880,  $14.14.  At  that  yield  per  acre  the  alluvial 
lands  would  annually  produce  to  the  value  of  8372,780,172.  This  is  a 
moderate  estimate,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  calculation,  made 
from  a  different  basis:  According  to  the  otlicial  report  of  1877,  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  it  takes,  in  the  cotton- 
producing  States  of  this  country,  an  average  of  2.03  acres  to  produce 
one  bale  of  cotton.  No  one  tamiliar  with  the  alluvial  lands  will  dispute 
their  wonderful  capacity  for  cotton-growing.  At  the  same  rate,  2.03 
acres  to  the  bale,  the  total  area  would  produce  9,021,736  bales.  Re- 
ducing that  to  ijounds,  at  440  pounds  to  the  bale,  we  have  a  total  of 
3,909,503,840  pounds.  At  11  cents  per  pound  the  total  value  of  their 
annual  croj)  would  be  $430,052,022.  It  is  evidently  nearer  the  truth  to 
say  that  the  overtiowed  lands,  if  protected  and  cultivated  as  carefully 
as  the  farm  lauds  of  New  Jersey,  would  produce  on  an  average  at  least 
one  bale  to  every  acre.  It  is  an  assertion  which  any  planter  familiar 
with  the  wonderful  fertility,  depth,  and  inexhaustibility  of  the  alluvial 
soil  will  readily  indorse.  At  that  rate  the  Delta  of  the  Mississippi 
wouhl  produce  each  year  23,727,108  bales,  worth,  at  440  pounds  to  the 
bale,  and  at  11  cents  per  pound,  81,148,394,031. 

CONTRASTS  WITH  THE  NETHERLANDS. 

The  history  of  the  protection  and  development  of  the  Netherlands 
(low  countries),  an  exact  parallel  in  formation  to  the  alluvial  lands  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  proves  very  clearly  that  we  have  not  overesti- 
mated the  importance  of  the  subject. 

The  United  Kingdom  of  the  Nctlierlands  contains  but  12,080  square 
njiles,  and  North  and  South  Ilolland,  two  of  the  eleven  subdivisions  of 
the  same,  but  2,20:)  square  miles.  The  whole  of  the  Netherlands  is 
made-land,  having  been  funned  by  protection  from  the  overflow  of  the 
Lower  Khine,  the  Maas,  the  Scheldt,  and  other  rivers,  90  lakes,  and  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  The  total  cost  of  their  protection  by  dikes,  embaidvuients, 
and  otiier  works  was  81, .■500,000,000.  The  annual  cost  of  guarding, 
protecting,  and  repairing  i.s  stated  to  be  from  82,000,000  to  $2,500,000. 
rrobal)ly  that  country,  in  i)roportion  to  its  population,  is  the  wealthiest 
nation  ui)on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  25 

All  elaborate  review  of  the  same  says : 

The  country  is  everywhere  well  peopled,  and  no  population  in  the  world  exhibits  a 
more  unilbrm  appearance  of  wealth,  comfort,  and  contentment. 

Holland  not  only  has  capital  enough  for  home  use,  but  the  Dutch  of 
Amsterdam  are  capitalist  who  have  a  large  surplus  to  lend  for  public 
improvements  and  large  enterprises  in  other  nations.  Yet  all  the  wealth 
of  this  rich  and  commercially  powerful  kingdom  was  accumulated  in 
an  alluvial  country  having  an  area  less  than  one-third  that  of  the  allu- 
vial lands  along  the  Lower  Mississippi. 

We  will  profit  by  their  example  if  we  protect  our  own  lands  from  over- 
flows— lands  which  are  equally  productive  and  far  more  easily  and 
cheaply  protected.  The  Dutch  are,  as  a  nation,  economical  and  con- 
servative. We,  who  claim  to  be  progressive,  should  display  equal  en- 
terprise in  adding  to  the  sum  total  of  our  national  wealth,  particularly 
when  it  can  be  done  incidentally  to  a  more  important  work — the  im- 
provement of  navigation. 

THE  QUESTION  OP  PEOTECTION. 

If  incidentally  to  the  improvement  of  navigation  the  rich  alluvial 
lands  of  the  Lower  Mississippi  Valley  should  be  protected  from  de- 
structive floods,  and  almost  fabulous  additions  made  to  the  taxable 
wealth  of  the  country,  millions  of  citizens  would  be  benefited  and  none 
injured.  But  before  stating  the  facts  and  figures  it  may  be  well  to 
notice  some  of  the  popular  misunderstandings  of  this  important  subject. 

The  Mississippi  Kivor  Commission,  who  have  now  in  charge  the  work 
of  improvement,  have  repeatedly,  since  their  appointment,  been  termed 
by  the  press  the  "Levee  Commission,"  thereby  conveying  to  the  mind 
of  the  public  the  erroneous  impression  that  their  chief  duty  was  to 
serve  the  interest  of  one  section  of  the  valley  and  build  levees.  What 
are  the  facts  1  The  act  creating  the  Commission  is  entitled,  "An  act 
to  provide  for  the  ai)pointment  of  a  'Mississippi  River  Commission,' 
for  the  improvement  of  said  river  from  the  head  of  the  passes,  near  its 
mouth,  to  its  headwaters,"  which  headwaters  are  in  the  State  of  'Min- 
nesota, near  the  northern  boundary  of  the  L^nited  States.  Section  4  of 
the  act  prescribes  their  duty  as  follows  : 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Commission  to  take  into  consideration  and  mature  such 
plan  or  plans  a-t  will  correct,  permanently  locate,  and  deepen  the  channel,  and  pro- 
tect the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River;  improve  and  give  safety  and  ease  to  the  navi- 
gation thereof;  prevent  destructive  doods ;  promote  and  facilitate  commerce,  trade, 
and  the  postal  service. 

The  Commission  shall  report  in  full  upon  the  practicability,  feasibility,  and  prob- 
able cost  of  the  various  plans  known  as  the  jetty  system,  the  levee  system,  and  the 
outlet  system,  as  well  as  upon  such  others  as  they  deem  necessary. 

This  correction  is  important,  for  such  misapprehension  tends  to  throw 
discredit  upon  a  great  national  work. 

Another  source  of  misunderstanding  and  opposition  has  been  the  un- 
necessary use  of  the  wor<l  "reclamation"  in  many  bills  which  have  in 
the  past  been  introduced  in  Congress  upon  the  subject  of  river  improve- 
ment. That  word  was  not  used  in  the  act  creating  the  Commission,  nor 
is  it  one  of  their  duties  to  do  farming  for  individuals  at  Government 
expense.  An  emphatic  disclaimer  of  such  a  purpose  was  made  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Mississippi,  Hon.  E.  W.  Robertson,  in  a  speech  advocating  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission.     He  said  of  the  bill  then  pending  : 

It  conlemplates  the  improvement  of  the  chief  avenue  of  transportation  of  a  great 
commercial  nation.     It  also  seeks  to  protect  from  floods  and  pestilence  over  26,000,000 


26  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TPvIBUTARIES. 

acres  of  the  most  fertile  and  productive  lands  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  does 
not,  as  is  so  often  allei:;ed,  aim  at  the  reclamation  of  those  lands,  or  seek  to  perform 
^vork  which  properly  belongs  to  the  individual  citizen.  The  word  "  reclamation  "  is 
not  used  in  the  bill.  It  is  well  that  we  understand  the  distinction  at  the  outset  of 
this  discussion,  for  the  wroujjc  'i^*?  fiu'I  confusion  of  terms  have  given  the  opponents  of 
river  improvement  an  opportunity  to  misiuterjiret,  and  therefore  misrepresent,  the 
object  we  seek  to  accomplish.  The  word  "reclamation"  has  furnished  them  with  the 
key-note  of  unjust  criticism.  We  simply  ask  protection  from  the  frequent  ravages  of 
this  great  river,  over  which  no  jiower  but  the  General  Government  has  legal  control, 
in  order  that  we  who  possess  lauds  along  its  course  may  have  an  opportunity  to  re- 
claim and  cultivate  them  at  our  own  expense. 

In  auother  speech  iu  the  House  of  Representatives,  May  18, 1882,  on 
the  subject  of  the  "  protection  of  the  valley,*'  he  was  still  more  explicit, 
and  stated  the  case  with  great  force,  as  follows : 

In  brief,  we  ask  the  protection  not  simply  of  alluvial  lands,  but  agricultural  in  a 
broad  and  national  sense;  not  only  agriculture,  but  manufactures,  commerce,  the 
postal  service,  and  the  people  themselves  of  the  lower  valley,  an  alluvial  area  em- 
bracing 41,000  sijuare  miles,  or  nearly  as  large  as  all  New  England;  three  times  the 
area  of  the  celebrated  valley  of  the  Nile,  formerly  the  granary  of  the  oriental  world; 
and  eighteen  times  the  size  of  Holland — a  magnilicent  empire  in  its  extent  and  re- 
sources. 

From  what  do  we  ask  protection  ?  From  the  overflows  of  a  great  national  sewer 
tilled  with  the  drainage  of  twenty-eight  States  and  Territories  ;  from  the  overflow 
of  a  great  national  highway  of  commerce,  the  trunk  line  of  forty-two  navigable  trib- 
utaries, which  supply  water  transportation  to  twenty-two  States  and  Territories; 
from  the  overflow  of  a  Government  postal  route,  a  river  subject  to  the  admiralty  and 
maritime  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States;  from  an  enemy  in  whose  clutches  a  single 
State  is  as  powerless  as  a  little  child  in  the  deadly  clasp  of  the  octopus ;  from  a  river 
which  iu  itself  and  in  its  relations  to  the  nation  is  exceptional. 


VII.-DESTRUCTIVE  FLOODS. 

The  destructive  tloods  of  the  Mississippi  Vulley  not  only  sweep  over 
the  alluvial  lands  of  the  lower  valley  between  Cairo  and  the  Gulf,  but 
frequently  occur  in  the  valleys  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Missouri, 
Ohio,  Red,  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Cumberland,  Yazoo,  and  other  rivers 
of  this  comprehensive  system,  carrying  with  them  enormous  destruction 
to  crops,  roads,  railroads,  postal-routes,  buildings,  live-stock,  commerce, 
and  industries.     They  are  often  attended  with  the  loss  of  life  itself. 

FLOODS   OF   1868   AND    1S71, 

Mr.  Morey,  in  his  report  to  the  House  of  Representatives  during  the 
Forty-second  Congress,  said  of  the  tloods  of  18G8  and  1871 : 

The  destruction  caused  by  the  last  two  tloods  above  named  in  the  Ouachita  Valley- 
is  almost  incredible.  A  valley  of  almost  unexampled  fertility,  capable  of  raising, 
beside  corn  and  stock  in  great  abundance,  at  least  75,000  bales  of  cotton,  worth,  at 
the  average  price  of  this  season,  more  than  85.000,000,  was  inundated,  plantations 
destroyed,  buildings  washed  away,  cattle  and  swine  by  the  thousand  starved  or 
drowned,  etc. 

FLOOD   OF   1871. 

Another  flood  in  1871  was  still  more  destructive.  Mr.  Ellis,  in  his 
report  to  the  House,  in  1876,  says  of  it : 

The  loss  by  the  flood  of  1S74  was  §13,000,000.  This  year,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascer- 
tained, it  is  .$'2,000,000.  And  this  makes  the  total  sum  .$15,000,000  in  actual  material 
wealth  within  three  years. 

FLOOD   OF   1881. 

The  great  flood  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  in  the  spring  of  1881  was  unusually  destructive,  the  damage 
amounting  to  many  millions  of  dollars.  As  it  is  impossible  to  give  an 
accurate  estimate  of  the  total  damage,  we  will  give  a  few  illustrations- 
by  extracts  from  the  press  dispatches  published  in  leading  daily  papers 
of  that  time: 

Omaha,  April  25.— The  flood  still  continues.  The  river  rose  2  inches  last  night  at 
this  point,  but  it  has  done  no  further  damage  to  manufacturing  interests  on  the  water 
front.  Much  lumber  in  the  yards  has  been  removed  to  higher  ground.  The  L^nion 
Pacific  shops  and  smelting  works,  Boyd's  packing-house  and  distillery  are  still  under 
water,  and  1,600  men  are  out  of  employment. 

At  Council  Blulfs  one-half  of  thecity  is  nnder  water,  and  600  people  are  hojieless. 
All  passengers  from  Eastern  trains  are  transferred  by  boat  to  the  Union  Pacific  depot. 

A  dispatch  from  Sioux  City  announces  a  fall  of  6  inches  at  that  point. 

This  morning  high  winds  set  in  from  the  north  and  stirred  up  the  vast  body  of 
water  north  of  the  long  embankment  leading  up  to  the  Union  Pacific  bridge  on  the 
east  side,  and  the  high  waves  dashing  against  it  soon  washed  out  the  dirt  close  up  to 
the  ties.  This  was  discovered  just  in  time  to  prevent  an  accident,  and  a  large  force 
of  men  were  put  to  work  piling  sand  bags  along  the  north  side,  thus  breaking  the 
force  of  the  waves  and  saving  the  embankment.  Two  hours  more  and  the  water 
would  have  taken  out  a  section  of  several  hundred  feet  of  the  approach  to  the  bridge. 
The  transfer  of  passengers,  baggage,  and  mails  is  continued  by  boat  at  Council  Bluffs- 

27 


28  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

There  is  no  material  change  in  affairs  here  since  yesterday.     The  Union  Pacific  roail 
is  rnnninjr  rej^ular  trains. 

The  vilLige  of  WaterU^o,  near  Elkhorn  River,  2.5  miles  west  of  Omaha,  is  Hooded 
to  a  depth  of  fj  feet. 

Tlie  overliow,  which  covers  the  country  lor  many  miles,  is  doint;  consideralde  daui- 
ajjc  to  farms  in  Elkhorn  Valley. 

Some  citizPHHof  Waterloo  chiimeil  their  town  was  Hooded  owing  to  the  Union  I'acilic 
Kailroad  embankment  holding  tlie  water  back,  and  they  threatened  to  open  a  channel 
throngh  it,  bnt  were  prevented  by  the  timely  appearance  of  a  sheriff  and  posse  of 
•constables  from  Omaha.  Six  ice-honses,  located  in  Omaha  Bottoms,  have  been 
wrecked  by  higli  water  and  rendered  a  total  loss.  A  largo  wagon-bridge  came  down 
the  river  to-day,  lamling  on  tlie  east  side  of  the  smelting  works. 

Hannibal,  ^fo.,  April  'iTt. — The  Sny  levee  broke  at  :5  o'clock  this  morning,  at  a  point 
tibont  a  mile  and  a  half  above  East  Hannibal.  The  crevasse  is  1150  foet  wide,  ami  the 
water  is  still  cntting  both  below  and  above  the  break.  Near  East  Hannibal  there 
are  several  weak  points  liable  to  go  at  any  moment.  The  river  is  19  feet  and  1  jncli 
above  low-water  mark,  and  is  still  vising,  but  very  slowly. 

Trains  from  Qnincy  to  Hannibal,  via  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Qnincy  Railroad, 
are  abandoned,  the  track  between  Fall  Creek  and  East  Hannibal  inside  the  levee 
being  under  water.  It  is  estimated  that  30,000  acres  of  fall  wheat  had  been  sown  in- 
side the  levee,  all  of  which  is  now  a  total  loss.  There  are  nearer  10,000  acres,  the 
yield  of  which  heretofore  had  averaged  30  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  season  it  stood 
finer  than  ever.  The  loss  on  wheat  alone  is  placed  at  $1,000,000.  The  river  is  still 
slowly  rising,  and  has  now  nearly  reach(;d  the  highest  point  of  last  year. 

Saint  Loui*,  April  2.'). — The  river  is  rising  and  rapidly  approaching  the  danger  line. 
A  rise  of  another  foot  and  the  water  will  submerge  some  of  the  low  lands  in  the  north- 
•ern  ])art  of  the  city,  and  inundate  part  of  the  bottoms  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  river. 
Much  apprehension  is  felt  for  property  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  measures  are 
being  taken  to  protect  it.  Old  steam-boat  men  are  j^redicting  a  Hood  of  unusual 
magnitude,  and  say  that  if  the  present  warm  weather  continues,  and  particularly  if 
there  is  much  rain-fall  in  the  north,  a  freshet  equal  to  that  of  lf541  will  probably 
ibllow. 

Binmarck,  April  25. — One  mile  of  track  and  thirty  pile-bridges  washed  away  consti- 
tute the  extent  of  damages  on  the  Northern  Pacific  extension.  Night  and  day  forces 
are  at  work  repairing,  and  trains  to  the  end  of  the  track  are  promised  in  a  few  days. 

Kansas  City,  April  2'). — The  levee  which  was  built  to  protect  the  town  of  Harlem 
and  the  broad  bottom  lands  opposite  the  city  from  overflowing  gave  way  on  Saturday 
uight,  and  a  strong  current,  10  feet  deep,  is  now  running  at  the  rate  of  h  or  6  miles  an 
hour  over  the  tracks  of  the  Hannibal  and  Saint  Joseph  Council  Bluffs.  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  and  Pacific,  and  Wabash  roads.  For  nearly  a  mile  all  these  tracks  are  supposed 
to  be  washed  out.  The  levee  gave  way  about  10  o'clock  at  night.  The  water  is  over- 
flowing a  large  number  of  farms  to  the  depth  of  from  4  to  6  feet. 

Saint  Paul,  Minn.,  April  25. — A  special  from  Fergus  Falls  says  the  upper  country  is 
an  unbroken  sheet  of  water,  beginning  at  a  point  about  25  miles  below  Saint  Vincent 
and  extending  this  way  to  the  vicinity  of  Crookston.  Twenty-five  miles  south  of  Ste- 
venson the  water  has  swept  away  the  track  of  the  Saint  Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Man- 
itoba Railroad,  and  all  railroad  travel  is  suspended. 

Saint  Paul,  Minn.,  April  27. — The  flood  at  Saint  Paul,  caused  by  the  coming  down 
of  high  water  in  the  Minnesota  River,  continues.  The  water  has  now  reached  18  feet 
in  the  channel — 3  feet  higher  than  during  the  June  rise  of  last  year,  and  the  highest 
point  reached  since  the  great  flood  of  1867.  There  is  to-day  scarcely  a  foot  of  uncovered 
land  in  the  entire  country  west  of  Saint  Paul,  flat  lands,  over  which  the  waters  are  not 
now  running  riot.  Old  residents  there  affinu  that  although  they  have  frequently  seen 
the  water  cover  the  lowlands,  they  have  never  known  the  current  so  strong  as  to  sweep 
over  them  with  such  overwhelming  velocity  as  it  is  doing  to-day.  The  current  carried 
away  the  bank  on  which  Fifth  street  is  l)uilt  tins  morning,  and  there  is  only  a  singli 
roa  I  remaining  uncovered  between  river  and  bluff.  A  visit  to  the  scene  to-day  fouml 
hundreds  of  houses  isolated  by  water  and  the  occupants  busy  moving.  The  sides  ol 
the  raised  embankment  were  filled  in  many  places  with  all  manner  of  household  elfects. 
which  had  been  brought  in  boats  from  the  inundated  residences,  and  around  which 
wi  r(!  the  owners  watching  and  guarding  the  same  while  awaiting  the  arrival  of  vehi- 
cles to  transport  the  goods  to  .some  place  of  safety. 

Omaha,  Nebr.,  April  27. — The  river  has  faUeu  10  inches  here.  A  further  fall  of  1- 
inches  is  reported  at  Sioux  City.  Information  having  been  received  at  Nebraska  City 
that  many  ]>eople  living  on  the  river  north  of  that  <ity  were  in  great  peril,  one  of  tin 
ferry-boats  started  out  yesterday  and  rescued  nearly  200  nieii,  women,  and  children, 
some  of  whom  had  been  without  food  two  or  three  days,  and  were  sufleriug  extremely 
from  hunger.  These  i»eople  were  lodged  in  the  opera  house,  the  city  hall,  churches, 
and  other  public  buildings.     *     •     » 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  28> 

East  Nebraska,  ou  the  Iowa  side  of  the  river,  is  entirely  flooded,  and  all  the  inhab- 
itants have  been  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes  and  seek  refnge  in  Nebraska  City 
proper.  Thousands  of  people  along  the  river  bottoms  in  Nebraska,  Missouri,  Iowa, 
and  Kansas  are  homeless  and  destitute.  Passengers,  mail,  and  baggage  trains  ar- 
rived here  same  as  the  last  few  days,  only  did  it  more  rapidly  than  heretofore.  It 
will  be  at  least  one  week  before  the  railroads  get  into  the  same  shape  as  before  the- 
flood. 

Saint  Joseph  Mo.,  April  27. — The  river  at  this  point  is  22  feet  6  inches  above  low- 
water  mark  and  rising  slowly.  Many  families  have  been  rescued  from  their  inun- 
dated houses  in  the  bottom  lands  during  the  day,  generally  in  destitute  circumstances. 
All  the  available  flat-boats  have  been  in  use  removing  people  and  stock.  An  old  man 
and  his  wife,  76  to  dO  years  of  age,  were  to-day  rescued  from  the  Elmwood  bottom, 
where  they  were  living  in  a  small  one-story  house,  having  been  two  or  three  days 
surrounded  by  the  swift  current,  a  mile  from  land,  and  the  water  2  feet  deep  in  the 
house.     *     *     » 

Atchison,  Kans.,  April  27. — Contrary  to  expectations,  the  river  has  continued  to  rise- 
steadily  during  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  and  is  now  22  feet  4  inches  above  low- 
water  mark  and  at  least  20  inches  above  the  level  of  the  great  flood  of  1844.  The 
Missouri  Pacific  road  continues  to  atford  the  only  connection  with  the  East,  and  it 
has  to  send  its  passengers  and  mails  around  by  way  of  Topeka. 

Chicago,  April  2U. — The  total  loss  of  property  by  the  flood  on  the  Missouri  River 
and  its  tributaries  between  Sioux  City  and  Bismarck  is  estimated  at  $2,500,000. 
Below  Sioux  City,  iucluding  the  damage  done  at  Omaha,  Council  Bluffs,  Kansa.* 
City,  and  the  great  overflow  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  between  these  cities  and. 
Saint  Louis,  the  amount  of  loss  is  computed  at  $1,500,000. 

FLOOD   OF   1882. 

In  the  spring  of  1882  another  destructive  flood  spread  over  the  Lower 
Mississippi  Valley.  Its  damage  in  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Arkan- 
sas was  described  in  the  following  debate  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
February  23,  1882 : 

Mr.  George.  Mr.  President,  I  should  like  to  be  indulged  in  making  a  remark  or 
two  explanatory  of  the  magnitude  of  the  disaster  referred  to  in  the  joint  resolution. 

The  district  overflowed  from  the  breaking  of  the  levee  embraces  all  the  Mississippi 
Delta  between  Memphis  and  Vicksburg,  about  15  miles  in  length  and  about  40  miles 
in  breadth.  All  of  it  is  either  now  under  water  or  will  be  in  a  short  time.  I  desire 
also  to  state,  for  the  information  of  the  Senate,  that  four-fifths  of  the  population 
which  inhabit  that  district  is  composed  of  colored  laborers,  who  have  not  the  means 
of  support  during  the  time  when  this  overflow  will  necessarily  interrupt  labor. 

Mr.  IXGALLS.  What  is  the  estimated  number  of  laborers  who  have  been  rendered 
destitute  by  this  inundation? 

Mr.  George.  They  inhabit  a  district  about  150  miles  long  by  about  40  wide.  I  sup- 
pose there  must  be  from  50,000  to  75,000  inhabitants  in  that  district. 

Mr.  Teller.  What  proportion  of  them  will  be  rendered  destitute  f 

Mr.  George.  Four-fifths.  I  desire  also  to  state,  for  the  information  of  Senators  who 
are  not  familiar  with  the  length  or  duration  of  an  overflow  in  the  Mississippi  bot- 
toms, that  it  is  not  an  attair  of  a  day  or  a  week.  The  overflows  in  that  section  of  the 
Mississippi  bottoms  generally  continue  from  four  to  six  weeks  before  there  is  a  sub- 
sidence of  the  waters,  and  during  all  that  time  there  is  a  total  suspension  of  all 
labor ;  the  water  gets  all  over  the  whole  country. 

I  have  confined  my  statement  to  the  destitution  in  Mississippi.  There  are  contigu- 
ous districts  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  in  the  State  of  Arkansas, 
that  sufler  from  the  same  overflow.  The  Senator  from  Arkansas  [Mr.  Garland]  -will 
make  a  statement  upon  that  subject. 

I  shall  ask  to  have  the  joint  resolution  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Improve- 
ment of  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries,  in  the  hope  that  that  committee  may 
act  upon  it  with  promptness,  as  the  matter  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

Mr.  Garl.\nd.  The  information  that  the  Senator  from  Mississippi  gives  in  reference 
to  his  own  State  applies  exactly  to  the  State  of  Arkansas,  which  is  in  front  of  the  over- 
flowed Mississippi  River.  The  intelligence  that  I  receive  from  that  portion  of  the  State 
of  Arkansas  through  telegrams,  letters,  and  newspapers  represents  the  destruction 
there  as  widespread  and  as  absolutely  appalling  and  unprecedented.  The  overflow 
has  taken  barns  and  granaries,  and  has  swept  away  the  last  stock  the  farmers  and 
planters  of  that  country  owned  and  had  to  live  upon. 

I  am  not  prepared  in  luy  own  mind  to  say  j  ust  exactly  what  relief  or  what  measure 
of  relief  Congress  can  or  should  afford,  but  certainly  there  is  now  a  just  demand  for 
relief,  if  it  is  in  the  power  of  Congress  to  grant  it.    1  hope  the  joint  resolution  will 


30  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES 

l)e  referred  to  the  comiuittee  indicated  by  the  Senator  from  Mississippi,  and  that  that 
^oniniittee  may  see  proper  to  j(ive  it  early  consideration  and  report  some  measure  for 
the  relief  of  those  «ntferinj?  people. 

Mr.  Hami'Tox.  I  just  came  into  the  Senate  when  the  joint  resolution  was  sent  to 
the  Clerk's  desk  and  read,  and,  as  I  am  very  familiar  with  that  section  of  country, 
having  been  there  a  great  deal,  I  wish  to  make  a  statement  in  regard  to  it. 

The  area  of  land  which  will  be  overflowed  if  the  river  rises  as  high  as  it  has  done 
formerly  -will  cover  the  richest  i)ortion  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  on  the  Arkansas  side 
and  on  the  Mississipjii  side.  I  am  more  familiar  with  it  on  the  Mississippi  side  than 
on  the  Arkansas  side  ;  but  it  will  cover  the  most  productive  and  finest  cotton-grow- 
ing territory  in  the  whole  State.  I  have  known  the  river  to  be  at  that  point  some- 
times nearly  laO  miles  wide,  for  it  covers  from  the  Yazoo  hills  on  the  one  side  to  the 
Arkansas  blulfs  on  the  other,  and  in  that  whole  sectioTi  of  country,  if  the  river  is  as 
high  as  these  dispatches  say  it  is,  there  will  hardly  be  any  land  at  all  above  overflow. 
There  are  only  a  few  spots  in  that  great  Mississippi  bottom  which  are  above  over- 
flow, and  the  destruction  not  only  of  stock,  but  of  the  incoming  crop,  will  be  so  great 
that  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  dispatches  from  the  governor  of  Missis- 
sippi give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  destitution  and  starvation  that  will  follow  there. 

My  friend  from  Mississippi  thinks  that  there  are  75,000  people  in  this  area  covered. 
I  think  ho  has  underestimated  the  number  very  much. 

Mr.  Geoiuje.  I  spoke  of  the  Mississippi  side. 

Mr.  Hampton.  On  the.Mississippi  side  I  think  the  numbers  would  be  very  much 
larger  than  that.  Nearly  the  whole  of  those  people  are  colored  people;  they  rent 
the  land  and  the  loss  will  fall  upon  them.  They  have  made  no  provisions  at  all  for 
immediate  sustenance,  and  unless  some  aid  can  be  given  jtromptly,  I  have  no  ques- 
tion that  there  will  be  starvation  and  infinite  sutlering  in  that  whole  country. 

FLOOD  OF  1883. 

In  the  spring  of  1883  an  unusnally  destructive  flood  in  the  Ohio 
Kiver  Valley  .submerged  a  large  portion  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  which 
was  very  forcibly  described  in  the  folluwing  dispatch  from  Murat  Hal- 
stead,  February  16,  1883: 

The  loss  of  life  has  not  been  very  great,  bat  the  destruction  of  household  property 
is  enormous,  and  clothing,  sheltering,  and  feeding  the  poor  who  have  fled  from  their 
homes  will  strain  all  resources.  The  care  of  property  in  the  submerged  district  is  a 
great  task,  and  our  military  companies  are  out  at  night  patrolling  the  streets.  The 
school-houses  are  crowded  with  fugitives.  The  coal  supply  of  the  city  is  under  water. 
The  water-works  are  overwhelmed.  The  gasworks  are  submerged.  Our  condition  is 
in  many  resi)ects  critical,  but  nothing  but  a  sudden  and  immense  rain-fall  beyond  all 
exaniple  can  prevent  our  relief  by  the  fall  of  the  river.  There  are  reniarkal)le  coin- 
cidences between  this  monstrous  rise  in  the  Ohio  and  the  December  overflows  of  the 
Rhine  and  Danube.  The  parallel  between  the  Rhine  especially  and  the  Ohio  in  the 
origin,  progress,  extent,  and  duration  of  the  floods  is  very  striking,  and  the  corre- 
spondence in  the  two  cases  may  be  traced  also  in  the  intelligent  compassion  and  re- 
markable liberality  with  which  the  sufl'erings  of  those  made  homeless,  whether  on  the 
Rhine  or  the  Ohio,  were  regarded  and  relieved  by  the  enlightened  and  the  benevolent. 

The  above  are  but  illustrations  of  the  frequent  and  wholesale  destruc- 
tion and  desolation  caused  by  the  floods  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  great  valley.  But  they  are  sufficient  to  show  that  these 
floods  i)ay  no  attention  to  State  lines  and  that  they  are  national  iu  ex- 
tent and  magnitude. 


VIII.-NATIOxNAL  FEATURES. 

NATIONAL  IN  EXTENT. 

A  river  system  iu  which  tweiity-oue  States  aud  Territories  have  a  di- 
rect business  interest,  aud  nearly  all  others  an  indirect  interest;  which 
intersects  the  great  productive  center  of  the  continent,  and  by  means 
of  cheap  transportation  brings  the  producer  and  consumer  into  easy 
communication  ;  which  supplies  a  connecting  link  between  internal  and 
international  commerce,  is  something  more  than  sectional — it  is  em- 
phatically national.  The  navigable  portions  alone  of  the  Mississippi 
and  tributaries  are  distributed  among  the  States  substantially  as  follows : 

Miles.  i  Miles. 


Arkansas i    2,375:   Indian  Territory '  720 

Missouri i    1,950    ;  Minnesota \ !  660 

Louisiana  '    1,  925  '    Ohio ;  550 

Mississippi 1, 380      Wisconsin 520 

Montana 1,210      Texas 440 

Dakota :     1, 280      Xebraska 400 

Illinois 1,270      West  Virginia ,  390 

Tennessee 1,  260  ' !  Pennsylvania 250 

Kentucky I     1,230    :  Kansas 240 

Indiana I        840  /  Alabama 200 

Iowa 1  830  1 1 


They  also  supply  facilities  for  inland  inter-communication  by  water 
between  the  following  cities : 

Saint  Paul,  Minn.  Nashville,  Tenu.  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.  Little  Rock,  Ark.  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Decatur,  Ala.  Shreveport,  La. 

Louisville,  Ky.  Cairo,  111.  Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

Omaha,  Nebr.  New  Orleans,  La.  Qniucy,  111. 

Peoria,  111.  Saint  Louis,  Mo.  Parkersburgh,  W.  Va. 

Vicksburg,  Miss.  Kansas  City,  Mo.  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

La  Ciosse,  Wis.  Keokuk,  Iowa.  Jefterson  City,  Mo. 

Wheeling,  W.  Ya.  Knosville,  Tenn. 

And  several  hundred  other  cities  and  important  commercial  towns  scat- 
tered, as  they  are,  over  different  sections  of  a  great  and  broad  country. 

If  to  these  rivers  we  add  the  existing  supplements,  we  find  that  they 
supply  facilities  for  inland  water  inter-communication  between  twenty- 
five  States  and  Territories. 

Adding  the  projected  or  propo.sed  supplements  above  described,  they 
will  supply  the  facilities  for  twenty-nine  States  aud  Territories. 

And  adding  to  the  above  other  States  and  Territories  which  rest  upon 
the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Oceans,  we  find  that  the  Mississippi  aud  tribu- 
taries, with  existing  aud  proposed  supplements,  aud  the  oceans  on  the 
east  and  west,  will  permit  water  inter-communication  between  forty-one 
States  aud  Territories,  or  all  but  five  of  the  total  forty-six  States  and 
Territories  of  the  eutire  Union. 


32  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

NATIONAL   IN   LAW. 

This  liver  system  is  also  national  in  law.  The  doctrine  as  declared 
by  the  Siii^renie  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  case  of  the  Daniel 
Ball,  10  Wallace,  557,  is  as  follows : 

Those  rivers  inust  be  regarded  as  public  navigable  rivers  in  law  which  are  navigable 
in  fact.  And  they  are  navigable  in  fact  when  they  are  used,  or  are  susceptible  of  lie- 
ing  used,  in  their  ordinary  condition,  as  higliways  for  commerce,  over  which  trade 
and  travel  are,  or  may  be,  conducted  in  the  customary  modes  of  trade  and  travel  on 
water.  And  they  cmstitute  navigabK'  water-  of  the  United  States,  within  the  mean- 
ing of  the  act-"  of  Congres-',  iu  contradistinction  from  the  navigable  w.itera  of  the 
States,  when  they  form  in  their  ordinary  condition,  l>y  themselves  or  by  uniting 
with  other  waters,  a  continued  highway  over  which  commerce  is,  or  may  be,  carried 
on  with  other  St  »tes  or  fon-igu  countries  in  the  customary  modes  in  which  such  com- 
merce is  conducted  by  water. 

NATIONAL  IN  BENEFITS. 

In  its  benefits,  also,  this  net-work  of  water-ways  is  national.  The 
consumer  of  the  East  and  the  producer  of  the  West  have  a  common  in- 
terest in  cheap  transportation  and  cheap  food.  The  recognition  of  this 
principle  on  the  floor  of  the  United  States  Senate  should  be  cousidered 
by  every  one  who,  through  wrong  information,  superficial  observation, 
or  sectional  feeling,  imagines  that  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi 
Kiver  is  a  local  movement.  We  refer  to  the  tribute  by  Senator  Bayard, 
who  said  iu  the  United  States  Senate  in  June,  1880,  in  speaking  of  the 
improvements  already  made  at  the  mouth  of  the  river : 

The  results  of  such  a  work,  if  maintained  according  to  present  promise  and  to  all 
reasonable  hope,  are  magnificent  and  incalculable  in  their  benefit,  not  simply  to  a 
State  but  to  the  entire  Union,  and  not  simply  to  the  entire  Union,  but  you  may  say 
the  benefits  are  world-wide.  It  io  making  food  cheaper  for  this  world  that  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  can  perform  its  great  carrying  functions  to  bring  t  he  vast  crops  of  prod- 
ucts of  the  wheat  lands,  and  the  granary  of  this  country  and  of  the  world,  into  the 
use  of  mankind  in  general. 

NATIONAL  IN  DAMAGE. 

As  shown  in  a  previous  chapter  the  periodical  floods  of  the  valley 
are  national  in  the  extent  and  magnitude  of  their  destruction.  They 
are  also  beyond  the  jurisdiction  and  control  of  individual  States,  as 
was  very  clearly  stated  in  the  following  extracts  from  a  speech  on  this 
subject  by  Hon.  E.  AV.  Robertson,  of  Louisiana,  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives May  18,  1882: 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  Mi-ssissippi  there  was  built  a  continuous  line  of  levee  ex- 
tending from  Louisiana  into  Arkansas.  For  about  fifteen  years  past  the  levee  has 
been  broken  for  several  miles  above  and  below  the  boundary  line  dividing  the  two 
States.  Arkansas,  for  some  reason,  is  indifferent  to  repairs  at  this  particular  place. 
The  result  is  that  the  floods  which  sweep  through  the  gap  in  Arkansas  continue  down 
through  Louisiana  in  the  roar  of  her  system  of  levees,  thereby  nullifying  all  the 
efforts  of  the  latter  State  to  secure  protection.  Does  any  one  contend  that  Louisiana 
has  jurisdiction  over  Arkansas  ?  The  two  States  can  not  even  make  a  binding  agree- 
ment on  the  8ul)ject  of  protection,  for  the  Constitution  expressly  denies  their  right 
to  enter  into  treaties  between  themselves.  It  is,  then,  worse  than  idle  to  tell  us  of 
the  lower  valley  to  protect  ourselves.  »  *  »  Can  States  combine  to  accomplish 
this  protection,  "to  provide  for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare?"  Not  at 
all,  for  they  are  exi)re8sly  ])rohibited  by  section  10  of  the  same  article,  which  says: 
"No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation." 

How,  then,  can  the  States  of  the  lower  valley  agree  upon  a  uniform  plan  of  pro- 
tection from  their  common  enemy,  the  great  and  national  Mississippi  in  flood-time  ? 
They  can  not.  They  are  powerless.  They  are  helpless  and  subject  to  the  mercy  of 
the  floods. 

They  invoke,  then,  the  aid  of  that  Federal  power  whose  fundamental  object  is  the 
protection  of  its  own  citizens  and  its  own  States. 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES.  33 

NATIONAL   IN   POLITICS. 

The  political  features  of  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries  are  also  na- 
tional. If  to  the  Eepreseiitatives  of  the  people  in  Congress  from  the 
sixteen  Valley  States  aod  Territories  were  added  those  from  PeunsjT- 
vania,  West  Virginia,  Alabama,  and  Texas,  which  States  are  inter- 
sected by  and  have  an  extensive  business  interest  in  the  navigable 
waters  of  these  rivers,  the  result  would  show  a  very  large  majority  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  urge  this  point, 
for  all  sections  have  a  common  interest  in  the  great  water-ways  which 
intersect  the  granary  of  a  common  country.  Instead  of  being  an  ele- 
ment of  strife  and  sectional  antagonism,  the  Mississippi  is  a  bond  of 
union.  In  this  respect  nature  has  accomplished  for  the  people  of  the 
great  interior  what  President  Washington  was  so  anxious  to  see  accom- 
plished for  a  similar  purpose  in  another  direction  by  artificial  and  costly 
means.  We  refer  to  his  favorite  project  of  uniting,  by  a  canal,  the 
Potomac  River  and  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  so  as  to  bind,  in  commercial 
and  political  ties,  the  Mi8sissipi)i  Valley  to  the  Atlantic  States.  To 
create  a  similar  bond  of  union  between  the  Pacific  States  and  the  rest 
of  the  country  Congress,  at  the  close  of  the  late  civil  war,  granted  to 
the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railway  Companies  20,000,000  acres  of 
l)ublic  lands,  and  loaned  $53,121,632  in  bonds. 

Nature  has,  without  cost,  bound  together  the  many  States  of  the 
Il^orth  and  South  and  of  the  great  interior  in  a  perfect  net-work  of  com- 
mercial ties. 

The  problem  of  new  and  enlarged  commercial  intercourse  and  fellow- 
ship between  the  two  sections  is  not  a  diflicult  one,  if  we  look  to  the 
Mississippi  for  a  solution.  This  was  demonstrated  a  few  years  ago  by 
the  enthusiastic  response  from  both  sides  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives to  the  remarks  by  General  Garfield,  closing  the  debate  on  the 
Mississippi  River  Commission  bill,  with  the  following  liberal  sentiment : 

I  rejoice  in  any  occasion  which  enables  Representatives  from  the  North  and  from 
the  South  to  unite  in  an  unpartisan  effort  to  promote  a  great  national  interest.  [Ap- 
plause.] Such  an  occasion  is  good  for  us  both.  And  when  we  can  do  it  without  the 
sacrifice  of  our  convictions  and  can  benefit  millions  of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  can 
thereby  strengthen  the  bonds  of  the  Union,  we  ought  to  do  it  with  rejoicing ;  for  in 
doing  so  we  inspire  orr  people  with  larger  and  more  generous  views,  and  help  to  con- 
firm for  them  and  for  our  children  to  our  latest  generations  the  indissoluble  Union 
and  the  permanent  grandeur  of  this  Republic.  I  shall  vote  for  this  bill.  [Applause 
on  both  sides  of  the  House.  J 

OPINIONS   OF  NATIONAL   STATKSMEN. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  the  strictest  of  strict  constructionists,  said  of  it,  in 
1845,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Memphis : 

The  invention  of  Fulton  has,  in  reality,  for  all  practical  purposes,  converted  the 
Mississippi  with  all  its  tributaries  into  an  inland  sea.  Regarding  it  as  such  I  am 
prepared  to  place  it  on  the  same  footing  with  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  coasts,  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Delaware  bays,  and  the  Lakes  in  reference  to  the  superintendence  of  the 
General  Government  over  its  navigation.  It  is  manifest  that  it  is  far  beyond  the 
power  of  individual  or  separate  States  to  supervise  it. 

Vice-President  Hendricks,  in  a  speech  delivered  in  1866,  said : 

That  river  is  under  the  control  of  the  Government  for  almost  every  purpose.  It  is 
a  great  channel  of  commerce  ;  it  is  the  nation's  river  ;  it  does  not  belong  to  Louisiana, 
it^oes  not  belong  to  Mississippi  ;  it  is  the  river  of  all  the  States. 

General  Garfield,  while  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  said,  in  sup- 
port of  the  bill  creating  the  Mississippi  River  Commission: 

I  believe  that  one  of  the  grandest  of  our  material  and  national  interests,  one  that 
is  national  in  the  largest  material  sense  of  that  word,  is  the  Mississippi  River  and  its 

7204 3 


34  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

navigable  tributaries.  It  is  the  most  gigantic  single  uatniaHVatnre  of  our  conti- 
ueiit,  far  trausnMuling  the  glory  of  the  ancient  Nile  or  of  any  other  river  on  the 
earth.  The  statchnianship  of  America  must  grapple  the  i)robleni  of  this  mighty 
stream.  It  is  too  vast  for  any  State  to  handle;  too  uuicli  for  any  authority  less  than 
that  of  the  nation  itself  to  manage.  And  I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  the 
liberal-minded  statesmanship  of  tliis  country  wnll  devise  a  wise  and  comi)reht'usive 
system  that  will  harness  the  powers  of  this  great  river  to  the  material  interests  of 
America,  so  that  not  only  all  the  people  who  live  on  its  banks  and  the  banks  of  its 
continents,  but  all  the  citizens  of  the  Republic,  whether  dwellers  in  tiie  central  val- 
ley or  on  the  slope  of  either  ocean,  will  recognize  the  importance  of  presi-rviug  and 
perfecting  this  great  natural  and  material  bond  of  national  union  between  the  North 
and  South,  a  bond  to  be  so  strengthened  by  commerce  and  intercourse  that  it  can 
never  be  severed.     [Applanse.] 

Ill  bis  letter  of  July  10,  1880,  accepting  the  noiuination  for  the  Pres- 
idency, General  Garfield  further  said: 

The  Mississippi  River,  with  its  great  tributaries,  is  of  such  vital  importance  to  so 
many  millions  of  people  that  the  safety  of  its  navigation  requires  exceptional  consid- 
eration. In  order  to  secure  to  the  nation  the  control  of  all  is  waters.  President 
JeflVraon  negotiated  the  purchase  of  a  vast  territory  extending  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  wisdom  of  Congress  should  be  invoked  to  devise  some  plan  by  which  the  great 
river  shall  cease  to  be  a  terror  to  those  who  dwell  upon  its  banks,  and  l>y  which  its 
shipping  may  safely  carry  the  industrial  products  of  twenty-five  millions  of  people. 

In  his  annual  message  to  Congress  in  1880  President  Hayes  said : 

A  comprehensive  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  is  a  matter  of 
transcendent  importance.  These  great  water  ways  comprise  a  system  of  inland  trans- 
portation spread  like  net- work  over  a  large  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  navigable 
to  the  extent  of  many  thousands  of  miles.  Producers  and  consumers  alike  have  a  com- 
mon interest  in  such  nnequaled  facilities  for  cheap  transportation.  Geographically, 
conimercially,  and  politically,  they  are  the  strongest  tie  between  the  various  sections 
of  the  country.  These  channels  of  communication  and  interchange  are  the  property 
of  the  nation.  Its  jurisdiction  is  paramount  over  their  waters,  and  the  plainest  prin- 
ciples of  public  interest  require  their  intelligent  and  careful  supervision,  with  a  view 
to  their  protection,  improvement,  and  the  enliancement  of  their  usefulness. 

President  Cleveland,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  Oc- 
tober 15,  1887,  said : 

There  flows  past  your  city  our  nation's  great  river,  which  you  rightly  regard  as  a 
most  important  factor  in  your  present  and  future  welfare,  and  which  I  believe  is  uni- 
versally recognized  as  a  proper  object  of  governmental  protection  and  improvement. 
To  Memphis  and  to  every  other  city  on  its  banks  the  improvement  of  this  vast  high- 
way of  commerce  is  so  essential  that  they  should  be  interested  in  having  this  and 
other  proper  work  of  the  same  description  considered  upon  their  merits,  and  freed 
from  schemes  sometimes  questionable  in  their  character  and  often  extravagant  in 
their  demands. 


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7204 face  p.  34 


INTERNATIONAL    FEATURES 

THE      3S<EISSISSlm. 

AMERICAN  COUNTRIES  ON  THE  SOUTH. 
Proposed   Inter-Ocean   Routes  and  Steamship  Lir 

FOREIGN    OOMMBRCB 
SECOND    CENTURY. 


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7204 face  p.  36 


IX.-LNTERNATIONAL  FEATURES. 

AMERICAN  COUNTRIES  AT  THE   SOUTH. 

The  Lower  Mississippi  is  the  truuk  line  of  the  16,090  miles  of  navi- 
gable waterways  of  this  great  river  system.  After  intersecting  or  bor- 
dering twenty-one  States  and  Territories  of  the  great  interior  it  con- 
verges and  terminates  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Facing  its  mouth  there 
are  on  the  continent  south  of  the  United  States  fifteen  Spanish-Ameri- 
can Republics,  the  Portuguese-American  Empire  of  Brazil,  and  four 
European  colonies,  which  have  a  total  population  of  45,000,000  consum- 
ers and  an  area  of  8,000,000  square  miles,  or  more  than  double  that  of 
the  United  States. 

Also,  facing  its  mouth  are  the  various  West  India  Islands,  with  an 
area  of  about  100,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  about  4,000,000 
souls. 

The  names  and  ownership  of  the  forty  principal  West  India  Islands 
and  the  several  countries  on  the  continent  are,  in  detail,  as  follows : 

Spanish  West  Indies :  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  Isle  of  Pines. 

British  West  Indies  :  Jamaica,  Bahamas,  Trinidad,  Grenada,  St.  Vin- 
cent, St.  Lucia,  Antigua,  Barbuda,  St.  Christopher,  Caymans,  Virgin 
Islands,  Tobago,  Grenadines,  Barbadoes,  Dominica,  Moutserrat,  Xevis 
and  Rodonda,  and  Anguilla. 

French  West  Indies  :  Martinique,  Desirade,  Les  Salutes,  Guadeloupe, 
and  Marie  Galante. 

Dutch  West  Indies  :  St.  Martin,  Saba,  Oruba,  St.  Eustatius,  Curacoa, 
and  Buen  Ayre. 

Danish  West  Indies :  St.  Thomas,  Santa  Cruz,  and  St.  John. 

Swedish  West  Indies  :  St.  Bartholomew. 

Venezuelan  West  Indies :  Marguerite,  Les  Siete  Hermanos,  and  Tor- 
tuga. 

Independent  West  Indies  :  Hayti  and  San  Domingo. 

Central  American  republics :  Guatemala,  San  Salvador,  Costa  Rica, 
Honduras,  and  Nicaragua. 

Central  American  colony  :  British  Honduras. 

Mexican  Republic :  Comprising  twenty-seven  states,  one  territory, 
and  a  federal  district. 

South  American  republics:  United  States  of  Colombia,  Chili,  Argen- 
tine Republic,  Ecuador,  Uruguay,  Peru,  Venezuela,  Bolivia,  and  Para- 
guay. 

South  American  Empire:  Brazil. 

South  American  colonies:  British  Guiana,  French  Guiana,  and  Dutch 
Guiana. 

In  view  of  this  colossal  showing  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  a 

large  portion  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  to  be  with 

the  neighboring  sister  American  nations. 

What  are  the  facts  ? 

35 


36 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 


OUR   FOREIGN   C0M3IERf;E   OF   THE   FIRST   CENTURY. 

The  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  during  the  first  century 
of  its  existence  was  mainly  with  Europe.  The  course  of  trade  at  the 
end  of  one  hundred  years  is  as  follows : 

Pfir  cent. 

Exports  to  Europe  Jind  atljacent  countries,  ou  the  east •"'1 

Exports  to  American  coiiutries,  on  the  south 10 

Exports  to  British  America,  on  tlie  north 5 

Exports  to  Pacitic  countries,  on  the  west 4 

The  one-sided  nature  of  our  commerce  may  be  seen  by  a  glance  at 
the  accompanying  diagram  illustrating  the  general  course  of  steamship 
lines. 

Our  exports  are  also  unsyni metrical  in  quality,  74  per  cent,  being  the 
product  of  agriculture  and  only  15  per  cent,  the  products  of  manufact- 
ure. 

Of  our  total  annual  manufactures,  which  during  the  census  year  end- 
ing 1880  were  $5,309,579,191  in  value,  but  2  per  cent,  finds  foreign 
markets.  This  is  indeed  an  astonishing  state  of  atfairs,  a  defect  in  our 
commercial  relations  with  the  outside  world,  which  must  be  cured,  a 
weak  spot  which  must  be  built  up  and  strengthened. 

The  annual  foreign  commerce  of  the  various  American  countries  south 
of  the  United  States  during  the  last  attainable  year  were,  according  to 
a  recent  report  by  Secretary  Frelinghuyseu,  in  response  to  a  Senate 
resolution  of  inquiry,  as  follows  : 


Mexico 

Central  America 

British    Honduraa 

UuitL'd  States  of  Colombia. 

Venezuela  

Britisb  Guiana 

French  Guiana 

Dutch  Guiana 

Brazil 


Total  imports 
of  merchandise. 


Uruguay  

Argentine  Republic. 

Chili 

Bolivia 

Peru 


Ecuador 

Spanish  West  Indies 

Hayti  and  San  Domingo. 

Total  


$t2, 

10, 

1, 

23, 

10, 

10, 

1, 

1, 

79, 

17, 

80, 

53, 

12. 

6, 

62, 

7, 


579,  000 
000,  000 
164,000 
000,  000 
859,  UOO 

000, 000 

600,  000 
400,  000 
109,  000 
919,000 
436.  000 
301,  000 
900,  000 
0(10,  000 
000,  OUO 
8(15,  000 
724,  000 


Imports  from 
United  States. 


420,  859,  000 


$12, 704,  000 

3, 178,  OuO 

430,  000 

6,  380,  000 

2,  4i;7,  000 
1,  81^4,  000 

102,  000 

320,  000 

8,  695,  000 

1,  368,  000 

5,  075,  000 

3,  267,  000 

i,  671,0()0 

629,  000 

13, 13,5,  000 

4,  054,  000 


64,  090, 000 


In  brief,  we  supply  but  15  per  cent,  of  the  demand,  or  about  one- 
seventh  part. 

It  is  ea.sy  to  understand  why  we  control  so  insignificant  a  i)ortion  of 
this  valuable  trade  when  we  examine  the  record  of  our  exports  to  those 
countries  from  Xew  Orleans,  which  port  represents  the  principal  south- 
ern outlet  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  value  of  exports  of  domestic 
merchandise  from  New  Orleans  to  the  various  and  neighboring  Amer- 
ican countries  and  islands  on  the  south  was,  during  the  fiscal  year  end- 
ing June  30,  1886,  as  follows: 


THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 


37 


From  New  Orleans  to — 


Argentine  Eepublic 

Brazil 

Costa  Kica 

Onatemala 

Honduras 

Nicaragua 

San  Salvador 

Chili 

Danish  West  Indies 
French  West  Indies 

French  Guiana 

British  West  Indies  , 

British  Guiana 

British  Honduras 


Amoont. 


$7,  215 


32.  251 
40,  992  I 
150, 127  ! 
63,841  I 


9,776 


152,  372 


From  New  Orleans  to — 


Amount. 


Hayti 

$562, 572 

Cuba 

29,  618 

14,  896 

Total 

1,  063,  660 

III  other  words,  the  principal  port  on  the  southern  coast  of  the  United 
States  is  not  doing  its  duty  in  supplying  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
American  markets  with  our  surplus  products  and  manufactures.  Nat- 
ure has  done  everything  to  stimulate  trade  in  this  direction,  but  for 
some  unaccountable  reason  it  has  been  neglected  by  the  United  States. 

Another  astonishing  defect  in  our  foreign  trade  relations  may  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  total  commerce  of  the  various  countries  surrounding 
the  Pacific  Ocean  and  facing  the  west  coast  of  the  United  States. 

During  a  recent  year  their  total  annual  imports  and  the  share  of  the 
same  supplied  by  the  United  States  were  as  follows : 


Total 
imports  from 
all  nations. 


Japan  

Chiua 

Honjc-Kong  

Philippine  Islands  

Dutch  India  

Siam 

Straits  Settlements 

Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  Tasmania 

Total  


$29,  296,  000 

112,  632,  000 

115, 834,  000 

18,  032,  000 

55,  485,  000 

6,  500,  000 

73.  174,  000 

118,  600,  000 


529,  553,  000 


Of  this  total  demand  we  supplied  but  $20,497,000  in  value,  or  less 
than  4  per  cent. 

Tbfc  above  is  the  result  of  our  foreign  commerce  during  the  first  cent- 
ury of  the  Republic.     What  now  is  the  outlook  for  the  future? 

OUR  FOREIGN  COMMERCE  OF  THE  SECOND  CENTURY. 


A  question  of  transcendent  importance  to  the  United  States  to-day 
is  the  development  of  new  foreign  markets  for  our  surplus  manufact- 
ures. It  is  useless  to  look  to  Europe  for  adequate  outlets,  for  it  is 
well  supplied  with  manufactures  of  its  own  and  has  a  surplus  for  export. 
We  must  rather  look  to  the  open,  unsupplied,  and  inviting  trade  fields 
of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  America. 

The  question  arises,  how  may  these  open  and  profitable  fields  be  im- 
proved ?  Nature  and  common  sense,  the  producer  and  consumer,  all 
demand  that  the  neighboring  Mississippi  Valley,  with  its  great  water- 
ways, terminating  at  the  Gulf,  and  with  its  surplus  grain  and  provis- 
ions, take  the  lead  in  this  new  commercial  movement.    Direct  and  cheap 


38  THE    MISSISSIPPI    AND    ITS    NAVIGABLE    TRIBUTARIES. 

transportation  by  way  of  the  river  and  Gulf  in  place  of  indirect  ship- 
ments from  the  valley  up  and  down  the  Alleghanies  and  then  around 
and  back  again  to  the  Indies,  Mexico,  and  ISouth  and  Central  America, 
is  the  true  solution  of  this  commercial  problem.  New  York  is  chiefly 
occupied  with  Euroi)eau  trade,  but  the  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Alis- 
si6sii)pi  has  the  time  as  well  as  the  favorable  situation  to  make  a  success 
of  American  foreign  commerce.  It  devolves  upon  her  and  the  other 
trade  centers  of  the  valley  to  take  the  lead.  The  material  interests  of 
the  entire  country  require  it. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  assassination  President  Garfield  said  in  an 
address  to  the  graduating  class  at  Annapolis  :  "The  Pacific  is  yet  to 
be  opened,  and  you  gentlemen  will  be  the  ones  to  scout  it  for  us."  The 
significance  of  this  remark  will  be  appreciated  by  reference  to  the  pre- 
ceding trade  statistics,  and  the  diagram  showiDg  the  Isthmian  barrier 
which  now  stands  in  the  pathway  of  direct  water  communication  be- 
tween the  great  Mississipi)i  Valley  and  the  Pacific. 

The  opening  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuautepec  will  shorten  the  water 
route  between  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  Hong-Kong  10,502 
miles  each  way,  or  21,004  miles  on  the  round  voyage,  for  steamers  be- 
tween those  two  ports  must  now  go  around  distant  Cape  Horn.  In 
brief,  the  piercing  of  this  isthmus  for  the  transit  of  ships  will  place 
the  Mississippi  Valley  in  direct  water  communication  with  Australia, 
the  countries  of  the  Orient,  and  the  west  coast  of  Central  and  South 
America.  Then  we  may  expect  our  due  share  ot  that  valuable  foreign 
trade  of  which  the  United  States  now  controls  but  about  4  per  cent, 
and  in  which  Xew  Orleans  has  no  participation. 

The  adequate  development  of  these  long-neglected  foreign  markets  of 
the  three  Americas  on  the  south  and  of  the  Oriental  countries  on  the 
west  is  the  great  material  problem  now  awaiting  solution. 

These  inviting  trade  fields  constitute  what  may  appropriately  be  termed 
our  foreign  commerce  of  the  second  century,  and  should,  without  further 
delay,  be  occupied  with  our  surplus  products  and  manufactures. 

In  his  memorable  tribute  to  America  in  1878  Gladstone  said,  in  con- 
trasting the  commercial  future  of  England  and  the  United  States: 

It  is  she  alone  who  at  a  coming  time  can  and  probably  will  wrest  from  us  that  com- 
mercial primacy.  We  have  no  title;  I  have  no  inclination  to  murmur  at  the  prospect. 
If  she  acquires  it  she  will  make  the  acquisition  by  the  right  of  the  strongest ;  but  in 
this  instance  the  strongest  means  the  best.  She  will  ])robal)ly  become  what  we  are 
now,  the  head  servant  in  the  great  household  of  the  world,  the  employer  of  all  employed, 
because  her  service  will  be  th^raost  and  the  ablest.  We  have  no  more  title  against 
her  than  Venice,  or  Genoa,  or  Holland  has  had  against  us. 

There  is  no  better  way  to  facilitate  the  attainment  of  the  "commer- 
cial primacy  *'  here  prophesied  than  by  developing  the  international 
features  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  Valley. 


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